Promoting the Universal Medication Schedule Via Mobile and EHR Technologies

Research has shown the UMS (1) improves patients' understanding of how much to take of a
medicine and when, and (2) reduces the number of times per day patients would take a
multi-drug regimen. In this study, UMS tools will be exported into a second electronic health
record platform to demonstrate ease of dissemination. Also, as patients may require
assistance outside of clinic visits to adapt their prescription regimen to the UMS, this
study will test the potential benefit of daily short message service (SMS) text reminders via
cell phone.

We will conduct a three-arm, provider-randomized controlled trial among English and
Spanish-speaking adults taking three or more prescription drugs to evaluate the effectiveness
of the UMS strategy, with and without SMS text reminders, to improve patient understanding,
consolidation, and adherence compared to usual care.We will conduct a three-arm,
provider-randomized trial at two community health centers in Chicago, IL to evaluate the UMS
and UMS+SMS text reminder strategies compared to usual care. English and Spanish-speaking
patients who are prescribed three or more medications will be recruited and assessed by phone
at baseline, three months, and six months.

Inclusion Criteria:

- diagnosis of type II diabetes

- age 30 or older

- taking 3 or more prescription medications for chronic conditions

- English or Spanish speaking

Exclusion Criteria:

- self-reported severe, uncorrectable vision

- hearing impairment

- cognitive impairment

- not responsible for administering his/her own medications

- not able to receive text messages on their cell phone