Fertility patients effectively learn to administer injectable medications with online videos

 Village Fertility Pharmacy’s Web-based training tools save time, provide privacy

WALTHAM, Mass. – The online patient education materials provided by Village Fertility Pharmacy (www.villagefertilitypharmacy.com), a specialty pharmacy focused exclusively on medications for infertility treatments, are as effective as in-person training when teaching fertility patients how to administer injectable medications, according to a recent study.

The New England-based, national fertility pharmacy recently partnered with Baystate Reproductive Medicine on a research study to determine the best methods for instructing patients on how to administer the injectable medications that are used in intrauterine insemination (IUI) and in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments.

“There is a lot of education that goes into getting patients comfortable with their fertility medications and, with most patients and medical providers under a time crunch these days, it’s really important to have an effective way of communicating that information outside of the doctor’s office,” said Hannah Lind, nurse educator at Village Fertility Pharmacy.

For nine months between September 2007 to June 2008, 127 Baystate Reproductive Medicine fertility patients participated in the study. Each patient was allowed to choose between online instruction with Village Fertility Pharmacy’s Video Injection Lesson MED Series and its accompanying materials, or hands-on training with Baystate Reproductive Medicine’s nurses. Those with language or comprehension barriers were not given the online option and were scheduled into a class.

All patients were verbally assessed by nurses prior to the training to determine their baseline knowledge. Similarly, nurses interviewed each study participant following the educational session to ensure the proper information was retained. These posttests revealed that 49 of the 87 patients who participated in the online group scored 100 percent; 25 of the 40 who attended the class scored 100 percent. Overall, there was no significant difference between the two groups’ results.

In addition to the patients’ overall understanding of how to administer the injectable drugs, both Village Fertility Pharmacy’s on-call nurse and Baystate Reproductive Medicine’s nurses and physicians monitored patients’ medication questions throughout the treatments. With the implementation of online education, there was no noticeable difference in patient inquiries.

“This just really boils down to an individual’s preferred learning method, but discovering that online training is just as effective as in-person education is important because it can free up a lot of people’s time and improve both patient and nurse satisfaction levels,” said Lind.

For information about Village Fertility Pharmacy, visit www.villagefertilitypharmacy.com or call (877) 334-1610.