Study: Patient non-compliance with drugs costs $290B per year

This article is an excellent summary of one of the leading, mostly hidden sources of avoidable costs in healthcare. Despite having many effective, essentially side effect-free drugs, with convenient once- or twice daily dosing for treating highe blood pressure, high-risk cholesterol levels, or type 2 diabetes, the actual usage of these medicines is poor. For example, in a recent overview of 4783 patients' use of newly introduced anti-hypertensive drugs, half quit taking their once-daily medication during the first year of treatment -- usually without the knowledge of the prescriber. Early quitting of dosing creates the biggest gap between prescribers' intentions and patients' actual drug intake. The 2nd biggest gap is created by missed doses: each day 8-10% of those who hadn't yet quit missed their daily dose. These patients all had their drugs paid-for, so the cost of treatment was not an obstacle. A 5-year study in Montreal showed that early quitting was the major problem with statins for lipid-lowering: more than half quit during the first year, and, by the end of the 5th year, only about 15% of patients were still taking these very effective medicines, which are, for the vast majority of patients, free of side-effects, and free of cost for the patients. Recent work indicates the effectiveness of medication management that is guided by objective data on how well or poorly patients are taking these medications.

Taking medications correctly is a challenge for all types of patients, especially those with complex medication schedules. And as this study shows, the cost is high to the patient, family and the health care system. RememberItNow! is a new, easy to use, online health service that was built to address the challenge of medication management. RememberItNow! includes pill reminders, a private care community and health tools to help patients of all types take control of their health. www.RememberItNow.com