Book excerpt: The lack of adherence to medication is a growing public health problem worldwide and is costing many patients their good health and healthcare systems billions of dollars. A new volume in the Emerging Issues in Analytical Chemistry series, Analytical Chemistry for Assessing Medication Adherence introduces the concept of medication adherence/compliance and reports international perspectives on medication adherence while highlighting its importance. It then describes the opportunities for analytical chemistry to assess medication adherence and thereby provide an evidence base for clinicians to improve patient health outcomes. The authors highlight the strengths and weaknesses of each of the analytical techniques cited in addition to categorizing the findings in terms of the biological samples used to assess adherence and identifying methods to extract biological samples prior to analysis. The final chapter provides the authors' perspective in this area, emphasising the importance of medication optimization for individual patients. The Emerging Issues in Analytical Chemistry series is published in partnership with RTI International and edited by Brian F. Thomas. Please be sure to check out our other featured volumes: - Thomas, Brian F. and ElSohly, Mahmoud. The Analytical Chemistry of Cannabis: Quality Assessment, Assurance, and Regulation of Medicinal Marijuana and Cannabinoid Preparations, 9780128046463, December 2015. - Hackney, Anthony C. Exercise, Sport, and Bioanalytical Chemistry: Principles and Practice, 9780128092064, March 2016. - Rao, Vikram, Knight, Rob, and Stoner, Brian. Sustainable Shale Oil and Gas: Analytical Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Geochemistry Methods, 9780128103890, forthcoming September 2016. - Farsalinos, Konstantinos, et al. Analytical Assessment of e-Cigarettes: From Contents to Chemical and Particle Exposure Profiles, 9780128112410, forthcoming November 2016. - Surveys the strengths, weaknesses, and appropriateness of existing instruments and techniques and points the way toward a program of therapeutic optimization - Brings together data scattered amongst professional journals and other sources in a single convenient volume - Presents the problem of adherence and the authors' evaluation of possible solutions based on the analysis of patient bio-samples