Katie Gallacher and the MDM Team have just published a typology of treatment burden in this month’s issue of Annals of Family Medicine (http://www.annfammed.org/cgi/content/full/9/3/235). The group have identified core components of treatment burden as reported by individuals with chronic heart failure and state that although further exploration and patient endorsement are necessary, the findings lay the foundation for a new target for treatment and quality improvement efforts toward patient-centered care.
Kurt Stange, Editor of Annals of Family Medicine, in this month’s editorial (http://www.annfammed.org/cgi/content/full/9/3/194), states that the group have identified factors that increase the burden on patients and agreed that the paper highlights targets for personalizing care. The important role for MDM, which aims to ease the burden of polypharmacy, improve the organization of care, and increase accessibility and continuity, all of which are reported as key issues, is therefore clear.