Take Meds as Directed: The health and financial consequences are drastic

http://www.boston.com/news/health/articles/2010/05/10/millions_of_patients_skip_drug_doses_or_never_get_prescriptions/

I read a very interesting article several weeks ago about prescription drug misuse A large population of patients are misusing drugs by skipping doses; anywhere from a day here and there, to not filling prescriptions at all. While this problem seems to receive little attention, it is very widespread and the health and financial consequences are drastic.

According to this article there are several reasons individuals are not taking his or her prescriptions:

1. There are just too many medications to keep track of for some patients

2. Unwanted side effects

3. The effects of the drug are not immediate so the patient does not see the need for taking it

Price may also be an issue for many patients. Even if most of a patient’s prescriptions are generic, the cost of so many pills can add up very quickly. When reading this article, this paragraph gave me pause as this is something we speak to our corporate clients about.

“Last month, in the New England Journal of Medicine, a Harvard health economist and the New England Healthcare Institute’s president sketched in stark detail the consequences of patients failing to take their drugs. The behavior spawns hospital stays costing $100 billion a year — stays that could have been averted. And 89,000 deaths from high blood pressure could be prevented annually if hypertension drug regimens were followed.”

This staggeringly high amount of money almost pales in comparison to the amount of money that could be saved by employers and workers if individuals took his or her medication exactly as directed and refilled on time.

According to The Express Scripts 2009 Drug Trend Report, which quantifies and reports changes in drug spending on a year-to-year basis and details the costly effects of irrational behaviors on pharmacy-related costs projects that making simple changes like getting people to take their medicines, exactly as directed, or to refill their prescriptions on time could save employers and their workers as much as $163 billion a year in healthcare costs, i.e. $1 out of every $5 spent on prescription drugs is wasted.

Consider these numbers:

• $106 billion from medical costs is related to non-adherence to therapy (patients failing to take prescribed drugs thus potentially worsening their condition)

• $51 billion in missed opportunities related to lower-cost medication alternatives, both brand and generic.

• $6 billion in missed opportunities related to lower-cost options for delivery of medications.

There are things that you can do as an individual for you and your family:

1. Become educated about your medications and the medications your family members are taking. If you are an employer, be sure that your employees know the importance of filling prescriptions and taking medications exactly as directed.

3. Focus on prevention; change your lifestyle and increase your healthful eating habits so you are less reliant on medications in general.

There are things that you can do as an employer:  A major component of our wellness plan focuses on "consumerism" or self-care...

1. Educate your employees to reduce the number of calls to the Emergency Room, reduce the incidence of preventable diseases, reduce the number of employee sick days, and increase the number of routine exams and preventive screenings.

2. Develop or include a behavior modification component in your existing wellness program to assist your employees to adopt and maintain healthy lifestyle changes.

3. Focus on lifestyle change, education, prevention and working towards getting people well so they no longer need their medicine. And for those that do need medicine, create awareness programs to help them manage their chronic issue, whether it is heart disease, diabetes or allergies!