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Medication Non-Compliance
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Up to 60% of all medication
prescribed is taken incorrectly, or not at all,...
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... and 90% of older adult
patients make some medication errors.
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Noncompliance leads to 3.5
million hospital admissions annually (11% of all admissions).1
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Medication non-compliance is expected to
become an increasing problem in the US. The average number of
prescriptions per elderly person grew from 19.6 in 1992 to 28.5 in
2000 (45% increase).2
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According to the World Health Organization,
medication non-compliance is one of the largest global health care
problems.
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The #1 reason
for medication non-compliance is forgetfulness!3
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Benefits of Medication
Compliance are multiple... |
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A study in the British journal Lancet found patients with
heart failure who took pills on schedule had a 35% lower mortality rate
than those who missed or forgot to take their medication.4
The benefits of medication compliance are multiple:
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Patients benefit from a better quality of life.
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It improves therapeutic outcomes, allowing the patient
to experience the intended effects of a prescribed medication.
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Improved health state leads to a more productive
lifestyle, and businesses benefit from healthy employees.
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Improved adherence can reduce the number of hospital
admissions, emergency room visits, and sick days, which cost
industries billions of dollars annually.
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Everyone benefits if overall costs to the U.S. health
care system linked to prescription non-compliance can be reduced.
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Noncompliance one of the largest healthcare issues... |
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According to a 1994
report titled “Medication Noncompliance with medications – An Economic
Tragedy”, medication non-compliance costs the US healthcare system up to
$100 billion per year, and is the cause of approximately 11% of US annual
hospitalizations. The five (5) most common types of non-compliance are:
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Not having a prescription
filled,
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Taking
an incorrect dose,
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Taking
the medicine at the wrong times,
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Forgetting
to take one or more doses, and
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Stopping
the medication too soon
(Burrell & Levy, 1985).
Non compliance is
especially problematic with chronic illnesses that are not associated with
immediate any symptoms (e.g. hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, asthma and many more).
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Noncompliance especially concerning with seniors... |
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Advances in medicine and overall national wealth have
increased longevity and the quality of life for US seniors. By 2030,
the number of older Americans (age 65 plus) will have more than doubled
to 70 million, or one in every five Americans.5 As more
seniors live longer they face more chronic illnesses. Seniors suffering
from chronic health issues, such as diabetes, hypertension, asthma, and
others, have ongoing difficulties in managing their health due to
complexity of treatment regimens, and the lack of easy-to-use technology
solutions to simplify the process for them. |
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One of the
leading problems that seniors with chronic health issues face is
compliance with their treatment, which consists predominantly of daily,
yet complex and confusing medication regimens. This often results in
non-compliance, defined as a patients’ failure to remember taking or
refilling medication, and/or taking medication in the correct time
intervals, and/or taking medication in the right dosage. |
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- Noncompliance with medications: an economic
tragedy with important implications for health care reform. Baltimore,
Md: The Task Force for Compliance; 1994:1-39.
- Cost
Overdose: Growth in Drug Spending for the Elderly 1992 – 2010, Family
USA
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Boston Consulting
Group; Harris Interactive
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“Using A Patient-Based
Information Technology Approach For Solving Prescription Medication
Non-Compliance” Presentation by Ronald Sekura of NexDose
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US
Census Data
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