Pharmaceutical treatment effectiveness analysis computer system and methods

1. A method for computerized monitoring of effectiveness of pharmaceutical treatments under evaluation in patients, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving by a computer, data for each of a plurality of patients indicating whether the respective patient self-administered a pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation as prescribed to thereby document patient compliance with prescription instructions for the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation; and

responsive to the received data, determining a potential effectiveness of the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation on a target medical parameter, the step of determining a potential effectiveness of the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation on the target medical parameter including the steps of:

analyzing a trend related to the target medical parameter indicating effects of consumption of the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation by the plurality of patients at a plurality of different pharmaceutical treatment compliance levels at each of one or more constant prescription levels to thereby determine a correlation, when existing, between the trend related to the target medical parameter and compliance level associated with the respective one or more constant prescription levels for the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation,

responsive to the step of analyzing, determining an effect of compliance level on effectiveness of the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation at each of the one or more constant prescription levels, and

responsive to the step of determining an effect of compliance level, determining a threshold level of compliance for each of the one or more constant prescription levels below which receiving the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation at the respective prescription level results in an effect that is less desirable than an effect of not receiving the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation.

2. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the step of determining the potential effectiveness of the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation on the target medical parameter comprises the step of:

determining for each of the one or more constant prescription levels, a minimum level of compliance necessary to have a positive effect on the target medical parameter exceeding that of not receiving the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation.

3. The method as defined in claim 1 ,

wherein the step of analyzing a trend related to the target medical parameter indicating effects of consumption of a pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation by the plurality of patients at a plurality of different pharmaceutical treatment compliance levels at each of one or more constant prescription levels includes analyzing a trend related to the target medical parameter at each of the plurality of different compliance levels at constant prescription level for each of a plurality of different prescription levels; and

wherein the step of determining an effect of compliance level on effectiveness of the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation at each of the one or more constant prescription levels includes determining an effect of compliance level on effectiveness of the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation for each separate one of the plurality of different prescription levels.

4. The method as defined in claim 3 , wherein the step of determining a threshold level of compliance for each of the one or more constant prescription levels below which receiving the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation at the respective prescription level results in an effect that is less desirable than an effect of not receiving the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation includes determining a threshold level of compliance for each of the plurality of prescription levels.

5. The method as defined in claim 1 ,

wherein the step of analyzing a trend related to the target medical parameter indicating effects of consumption of a pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation by the plurality of patients at a plurality of different pharmaceutical treatment compliance levels at each of one or more constant prescription levels includes analyzing a trend related to the target medical parameter at each of the plurality of different prescription levels at constant compliance level for each of the plurality of different compliance levels; and

wherein the step of determining a potential effectiveness of the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation on the target medical parameter includes determining the potential effectiveness of the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation at each of the plurality of different prescription levels at each separate one of the plurality of different compliance levels.

6. The method as defined in claim 1 ,

wherein the step of analyzing a trend related to the target medical parameter indicating effects of consumption of a pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation by the plurality of patients at a plurality of different pharmaceutical treatment compliance levels at each of one or more constant prescription levels includes analyzing a trend related to the target medical parameter indicating effects of consumption of the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation by the plurality of patients at each of the plurality of different compliance levels at each of a plurality of different prescription levels for each separate one of a plurality of different pharmaceutical treatment dispensation times; and

wherein the step of determining a potential effectiveness of the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation on the target medical parameter includes determining the potential effectiveness of the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation dispensed at each of a plurality of different prescription levels at each of the plurality of different pharmaceutical treatment dispensation times.

7. The method as defined in claim 1 ,

wherein the step of analyzing a trend related to the target medical parameter indicating effects of consumption of a pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation by the plurality of patients at a plurality of different pharmaceutical treatment compliance levels at each of one or more constant prescription levels includes analyzing a trend related to the target medical parameter indicating effects of consumption of the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation by the plurality of patients at each of the plurality of different compliance levels at constant prescription level for each of a plurality of different pharmaceutical treatment dispensation times; and

wherein the step of determining a potential effectiveness of the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation on the target medical parameter includes determining the potential effectiveness of the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation dispensed at the constant prescription level at each of the plurality of different pharmaceutical treatment dispensation times.

8. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the step of determining a potential effectiveness of the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation on the target medical parameter includes:

analyzing a trend related to the target medical parameter indicating effects of consumption of a pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation by the plurality of patients at constant prescription level at constant compliance level at each of a plurality of different pharmaceutical treatment dispensation times; and

determining the potential effectiveness of the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation dispensed at the constant prescription level at each separate one of the plurality of different pharmaceutical treatment dispensation times to thereby identify optimal dispensation times selection.

9. The method as defined in claim 1 ,

wherein the step of analyzing a trend related to the target medical parameter indicating effects of consumption of a pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation by the plurality of patients at a plurality of different pharmaceutical treatment compliance levels at each of one or more constant prescription levels includes analyzing a trend related to the target medical parameter indicating effects of consumption of the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation by the plurality of patients collectively having a plurality of different demographic factors at each of the plurality of different compliance levels at constant prescription level for each of a plurality of different prescription levels with respect to each separate one of the plurality of demographic factors; and

wherein the step of determining a potential effectiveness of the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation on the target medical parameter includes determining the potential effectiveness of the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation at each of the plurality of different prescription levels with respect to each separate one of plurality of demographic factors.

10. The method as defined in claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:

analyzing a trend related to the non-target medical parameter indicating effects of consumption of the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation by the plurality of patients at the plurality of different pharmaceutical treatment compliance levels at each of the one or more constant prescription levels to thereby determine a correlation, when existing, between the trend related to the non-target medical parameter and compliance level associated with the respective one or more constant prescription levels for the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation; and

determining a potential effectiveness of the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation on the non-target target medical parameter at each of the one or more prescription levels responsive to a determination of an effect of compliance level on the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation at each of the one or more constant prescription levels.

11. The method as defined in claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:

performing an actual physical verification by a human observer that a patient consumed the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation as prescribed; and

storing in memory of the computer, an indication of whether the respective patient self-administered the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation as prescribed defining a compliance indication, the compliance indication comprising an indication of an actual physical verification by a human observer that the respective patient consumed the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation as prescribed.

12. A method for computerized monitoring of effectiveness of pharmaceutical treatments under evaluation in patients, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving by a computer, data for each of a plurality of patients indicating whether the respective patient self-administered a pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation as prescribed to thereby document patient compliance with prescription instructions for the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation; and

responsive to the received data, determining a potential effectiveness of the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation on a target medical parameter, the step of determining a potential effectiveness of the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation on the target medical parameter including the steps of:

analyzing a trend related to the target medical parameter indicating effects of consumption of the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation by the plurality of patients at a plurality of different pharmaceutical treatment compliance levels at constant prescription level for each of a plurality of different prescription levels to thereby determine a correlation, when existing, between the trend related to the target medical parameter and compliance level associated with each respective prescription level for the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation, and

determining a threshold level of compliance for each of the plurality of prescription levels below which receiving the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation at the respective prescription level results in an effect on the target medical parameter that is less desirable than an effect of not receiving the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation.

13. The method as defined in claim 12 , wherein the step of determining the potential effectiveness of the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation on the target medical parameter comprises the step of:

determining for each of the plurality of prescription levels, a minimum level of compliance necessary to have a positive effect on the target medical parameter exceeding that of not receiving the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation.

14. The method as defined in claim 12 , further comprising the steps of:

analyzing a trend related to the non-target medical parameter indicating effects of consumption of the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation by the plurality of patients at the plurality of different pharmaceutical treatment compliance levels at each of the plurality of prescription levels to thereby determine a correlation, when existing, between the trend related to the non-target medical parameter and compliance level associated with each of the respective prescription levels for the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation; and

determining a potential effectiveness of the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation on the non-target target medical parameter at each of the plurality of prescription levels responsive to a determination of an effect of the plurality of different compliance levels on the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation at each of the plurality of prescription levels.

15. A method for computerized monitoring of effectiveness of pharmaceutical treatments under evaluation in patients, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving by a computer, data for each of a plurality of patients indicating whether the respective patient self-administered a pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation as prescribed to thereby document patient compliance with prescription instructions for the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation to define compliance data; and

responsive to the received data, determining a potential effectiveness of the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation on a target medical parameter, the step of determining a potential effectiveness of the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation on the target medical parameter including the step of:

analyzing a trend related to the target medical parameter indicating effects of consumption of the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation by the plurality of patients at a plurality of different pharmaceutical treatment compliance levels at each of one or more constant prescription levels to thereby determine a correlation, when existing, between the trend related to the target medical parameter and compliance level associated with the respective one or more constant prescription levels for the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation,

determining an effect of compliance level on effectiveness of the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation at each of the one or more constant prescription levels,

determining for each of the one or more constant prescription levels, a threshold level of compliance below which receiving the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation at the respective prescription level results in an effect that is less desirable than an effect of not receiving the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation, and

determining for each of the one or more constant prescription levels, a minimum level of compliance necessary to have a positive effect on the target medical parameter exceeding that of not receiving the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation.

16. The method as defined in claim 15 ,

wherein the step of analyzing a trend related to the target medical parameter indicating effects of consumption of a pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation by the plurality of patients at a plurality of different pharmaceutical treatment compliance levels at each of one or more constant prescription levels includes analyzing a trend related to the target medical parameter at each of the plurality of different compliance levels at constant prescription level for each of a plurality of different prescription levels; and

wherein the step of determining a potential effectiveness of the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation on the target medical parameter includes determining the potential effectiveness of the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation for each separate one of the plurality of different prescription levels.

17. Computer readable code of program instructions stored on a tangible program storage device readable by a computer, that when executed by the computer, cause the computer to perform operations for computerized monitoring of effectiveness of pharmaceutical treatments under evaluation, the operations comprising:

receiving a data entry for each separate one of a plurality of patients and for each medication administration event, each data entry comprising an indication of whether a patient self-administered the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation as prescribed to define compliance data to thereby document in a prescription compliance record of each specific patient, information about a frequency in which the patient complied with prescription instructions for the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation;

storing the compliance data for each respective patient in a prescription compliance record of the respective patient;

responsive to the compliance data for each of the plurality of patients, providing data to graphically display to a provider a trend related to a target medical parameter indicating effects of consumption of the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation by the plurality of patients at a plurality of different pharmaceutical treatment compliance levels at each of one or more constant prescription levels;

storing correlations between the trend related to the target medical parameter and compliance level associated with the respective one or more constant prescription levels for the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation, when existing, responsive to identification of the correlations by the provider;

providing data to graphically display an indication of a presently identified correlation between a trend related to the target medical parameter and compliance frequency for the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation to thereby aid a provider to determine a threshold level of compliance for each of the one or more constant prescription levels below which receiving the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation at the respective prescription level results in an effect that is less desirable than an effect of not receiving the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation; and

responsive to provider analysis of the presently identified correlation, storing an indication of the threshold level of compliance for each of the one or more constant prescription levels below which receiving the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation at the respective prescription level results in an effect that is less desirable than an effect of not receiving the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation.

18. Computer program code of program instructions as defined in claim 17 , wherein the operations further comprise:

storing an indication of a minimum level of compliance necessary to have a positive effect on the target medical parameter exceeding that of not receiving the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation for each of the one or more constant prescription levels responsive to provider analysis of a respective presently identified correlation at each of the of the one or more constant prescription levels.

19. Computer program code of program instructions as defined in claim 17 ,

wherein the operation of providing data to graphically display to a provider a trend related to a target medical parameter indicating effects of consumption of the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation by the plurality of patients at a plurality of different pharmaceutical treatment compliance levels at each of one or more constant prescription levels is performed for each separate one of a plurality of different prescription levels; and

wherein the operation of storing an indication of the threshold level of compliance for each of the one or more constant prescription levels below which receiving the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation at the respective prescription level results in an effect that is less desirable than an effect of not receiving the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation includes storing an indication of the threshold level of compliance for each separate one of the plurality of constant prescription levels.

20. Computer program code of program instructions as defined in claim 17 , wherein the operations further comprise:

providing data to graphically display a trend related to a non-target medical parameter indicating effects of consumption of the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation by the plurality of patients at a plurality of different pharmaceutical treatment compliance levels at each of one or more constant prescription levels to facilitate identifying a correlation, when existing, between the trend related to the non-target medical parameter and compliance level associated with the respective one or more constant prescription levels for the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation and determining a potential effectiveness of the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation on the non-target target medical parameter at each of the one or more prescription levels responsive to a determination of an effect of compliance level on the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation at each of the one or more constant prescription levels; and

storing an indication of the potential effectiveness of the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation on the non-target target medical parameter at each of the one or more prescription levels responsive to the determination of an effect of compliance level on the pharmaceutical treatment under evaluation at each of the one or more constant prescription levels.