Non-Adherence Costs Millions Annually

By Katie Wike, contributing writer

Patients who don’t stick to their medication schedule aren’t just hurting themselves - they’re costing their employers as well.

According to Health IT Analytics, medication non-adherence is costing employers $8 million in avoidable costs per every 100,000 lives. A whitepaper from Healthentic found in 100,000 patients over the course of a year:

● 128 avoidable hospitalizations related to diabetes = $2 million

● 243 hospitalization for high blood pressure = $4 million

● 150 inpatient admissions for high cholesterol = $2.5 million

“There’s a high tragic cost for people who don’t take their medications as prescribed — even for people who take their medication most of the time,” said Jeff O’Mara, Chief Executive Officer at Healthentic. “Non-adherence is a huge health problem for individuals, and causes massive amounts of unnecessary costs for employers.”

Here’s how to prevent losing out on millions – and improve employees’ health in the process:

• Text Messaging: Heart patients who were prescribed statins or a blood pressure medication were sent text message reminder about their medications in a study conducted by Queen Mary University in London. Of those who did not receive any reminders, 25 percent stopped taking their medications. Of those who did receive text message reminders, only 9 percent did not adhere to their medications.
• Automated Calls: Patients who received automated calls in a study from Kaiser Permanente were more likely to refill their medications and adhere to their doctor’s instructions. In this particular study, patients who took drugs for diabetes and heart disease were monitored. Those who received automated phone calls to remind them of their medications saw an improvement in their cholesterol levels and showed a 2 percent increase in adherence.
• mHealth Apps: A study of elderly patients found the ALICE app for smartphones and tablets increased self-reported treatment adherence by 28.3 percent between the control and experiment groups and the rate of missed doses was 27.3 percent lower.
• Digital Pills: This solution might sound a little extreme, but the technology really exists. Kaiser Health News reports that digital pills called “ingestibles” can transmit data to caregivers and report which medications and dosages are ingested.

“Too many employers are focusing their workplace health efforts on things that don't make an impact to health or costs. Managing specific people and conditions in a population, using tools like medication adherence, is one of the most effective ways to avoid expensive hospitalization and keep people healthy – if you target the right people,” said Al Lewis, Founder and President, Disease Management Purchasing Consortium.