The best pharmaceutical science ever created is of little value when patients don’t take their medication. And it may even be harmful if patients don’t take their prescriptions properly.
Very few people are aware of how big a problem “non-compliance” is. According to the National Pharmaceutical Council and American Hospital Association, more than half of patients either forget to take their prescription drugs or simply refuse to take them.
- Only a third of patients take their medication as prescribed;
- A third take some of their medicine; and
- The final third never even get their prescriptions filled.
Non-compliance has a huge negative effect on the quality of life and longevity. More than 125,000 Americans die each year because they failed to take their prescription medications as directed.In addition to the human toll, the economic costs of non-compliance are enormous, unnecessary and strain the health care industry. Failing to follow prescriptions costs more than $270 million in additional hospitalization and other medical costs – each day.
- People who miss doses require three times as many doctor visits as those who don’t;
- A tenth of all hospital admissions are the result of prescription medication non-compliance; and,
- Almost a fourth (23%) of those admitted to nursing homes check in because they have failed to take their prescriptions appropriately.
Of course, while some patients are willfully non-compliant, many just forget to take their pills or are confused about their dosing regimen.
And for the latter group, a new technology has a solution that will reduce the incidents of non-compliance — pill bottles that remind patients to take their medication. Using radio modules built into a computerized bottle, a reminder is sent via telephone from a central server if the container isn’t opened when it’s supposed to be. If the message is ignored, a caregiver is notified.
So just remember . . . oh, wait, that’s not right; the new technology does the remembering and it will get a message to you.