William Doucette, PhD, professor and head of the division of Health Services Research, was recently honored by the University of Iowa Research Foundation with a 2014 Inventor Award.

The research foundation honored Professor Doucette because his invention, called the DRug Adherence Workup (DRAW) Tool©, was successfully licensed to Lancaster General Hospital in Lancaster, Pa. on December 19, 2014. The DRAW Tool's purpose is to help pharmacists identify reasons for patients' medication non-adherence. It also suggests actions pharmacists can take to address those reasons.

The tool was copyrighted by the University of Iowa and has also been used by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Million Hearts® Team Up. Pressure Down. educational program. The initiative is helping Americans improve medication adherence and more effectively manage their blood pressure, in part through patient-pharmacist engagement.

Doucette received an award and certificate from the foundation. 

A statement from the foundation said that the licensing of the tool last year to the Pennsylvania hospital helped it fulfill one of its missions, which is to champion the commercialization of UI inventions for public benefit.