Published on May 31, 2012 at 9:37 AM
- The intervention group had an average adherence of 61.8 percent and the comparison group had 56.9 percent (a 4.9 percentage point improvement).
- 40.9 percent of the intervention group and only 33.7 percent of comparison group achieved the clinically important 80 percent adherence (a 7.2 percentage point improvement).
- 43.9 percent of the intervention group and 38.2 percent of comparison group continued taking their statin medication (a 5.7 percentage point improvement).
Previous research demonstrates that non-adherence with physician-prescribed medication treatment programs has a significantly negative impact on patient outcomes and overall health care costs. Only 25 to 30 percent of medications are taken properly, and only 15 to 20 percent are refilled as prescribed. Eleven percent of hospital admissions and 40 percent of nursing home admissions are attributable to medication non-adherence, which has been estimated to cost the U.S. health care system $290 billion annually, including $100 billion in avoidable hospitalizations alone. As the number of Americans taking prescription drugs and the prevalence of chronic conditions grows, reducing non-adherence has increasingly become an important focus for health plan sponsors.
Source Walgreens