Individuals who take medications, especially seniors or those with chronic health issues, are supposed to be taking their prescriptions on regularly scheduled intervals. One of the most critical issues that health plans and medical providers face is the lack of prescription adherence.
Taking your medications as prescribed is very important to your overall health regimen. Doctors are constantly dealing with patients who either refuse or forget to stay on track. As a consequence, many people suffer from problems related to the lack of consistency with their medications.
Prescription adherence is especially severe with anyone who has a maintenance medication, and does not maintain their adherence due to various reasons—cost, memory, fear, and other excuses. Medication adherence usually refers to whether patients take their medications as prescribed (eg, twice daily), as well as whether they continue to take a prescribed medication.
Medication non-adherence is a growing concern to clinicians, healthcare systems, and other stakeholders (eg, payers) because of mounting evidence that it is prevalent and associated with adverse outcomes and higher costs of care, according to the American Heart Association. It’s very important in cardiovascular care. For more details, read material at this website: http://www.epill.com/statistics.html .
Remembering to take your medicine is the key to compliance. Medicine will be effective only when taken as prescribed by your physician. If you are a caregiver for someone who needs prescriptions taken on a daily basis, your responsibility to help them follow their regimen is especially important. According to the Rosalynn Carter Institute of Georgia Southwestern College, there are 25 million non-professional caregivers in the U.S., and 80% of those are women. Between 80% and 90% of people taking medications receive them from a family member. That’s why it is critical to be adherent to medication therapies.
Prescription adherence is such a huge health care issue in America that Congress is considering ways to mandate options to make it happen better. Organizations that promote adherence are all about education and awareness for the public to know how important the issue is relative to the population at large and the overwhelming costs to the economy. All stakeholders in the medical community--doctors, clinics, hospitals, health plans, pharmacists, etc--are in full stress mode to monitor and maintain the highest degrees of medication adherence.
If you are on regular prescriptions for maintenance medications, keep your schedule intact as much as possible and follow the instructions of your doctor and pharmacist. Even if your medication need is temporary, such as an antibiotic or other short term prescription, follow the directions. Not only does this help you, but it provides safety and comfort to those around you. Plus, it reduces the possibility of a recurring illness or relapse.
Until next time.
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