My MediHealth: A Paradigm for Children-centered Medication Management

The last mile of the medication use system requires tools to help patients comply with medication administration rules and monitor for side effects. Personal health records (PHR) and emerging user-adopted communication tools promise to change the landscape of medication management. The overarching goal of the MyMediHealth project is to investigate ways in which PHRs and supported applications can improve the safety and quality of medication delivery. Preliminary work in this area by a team of parents, patients and school/clinic health providers created a vision for MyMediHealth, a next-generation medication management system. MyMediHealth was envisioned to allow home-based, school-based, and other caregivers to ensure safe and effective medication delivery. This vision featured just-in-time medication reminders to children with special health care needs, two-way communication to log when doses have been administered or when side effects have occurred, and mechanisms to warn caregivers about side effects and drug interactions. However, much of this work was done using prototypes, storyboards, and vision videos. Recognizing that this vision cannot be carried out without significant changes in processes and policies, the purpose of this proposed study is to evaluate the impact of medication management tools such as MyMediHealth on medication adherence for children with chronic illnesses. Specifically, the investigators hypothesize that compared with usual practice, children using mymedihealth will have improved medication adherence and will report improved (decreased) asthma symptoms.