For doctors, pharmacists and other health care experts, it鈥檚 a bitter pill to swallow: nearly a quarter of people who get a prescription don鈥檛 bother to fill it.
That gap leads to a variety of health issues, according to Marsha Raebel, a researcher for Kaiser Permanente鈥檚 Institute for Health Research in Denver. (KHN is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.)
鈥淚t sounds clich茅d but some people simply just don鈥檛 realize that they need to finish their dosage鈥攖hey feel fine so they stop taking their medication,鈥� she said. Although people may avoid the drugs because of the price, Raebel says that the long-term benefits for those who stick to their medications mean, 鈥渢hey will have less health care costs in the future.鈥�
estimates that non-adherence 鈥渃ould result in as much as $290 billion per year in avoidable medical spending or 13 percent of total health care expenditures.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 an issue that our industry has been aware of for years,鈥� said the chief health care strategist for CVS Caremark, Helena Foulkes.
Recently, Geisinger Health Systems, a hospital-based group in Danville, Pa., and CVS Caremark聽announced plans to study whether having physicians electronically file prescriptions to a pharmacy might allow better monitoring of drug use and help patients. Dr. William Shrank, of Brigham and Women鈥檚 Hospital in Boston who will lead the study, said the 18-month investigation will track a prescription from the moment it is submitted electronically to the pharmacy until it reaches the patient. If the patient does not pick up the prescription, he said, a 鈥渞ed flag鈥� or some form of notification will be sent to the doctor. The researchers will focus on patients with chronic health conditions to see if improving their drug adherence can help reduce long-term health care costs.
During a recent CVS Caremark panel at the National Press Club, Foulkes noted the link between drug adherence and health care spending. She pointed to in January that found 鈥渁cross the board adherent patients spent significantly less than non-adherent patients.鈥� Foulkes also said聽that 鈥渟ome 75 percent of the nation鈥檚 health care costs are spent on treatment of the chronically ill.鈥�
Shrank said tracking prescriptions will create a 鈥渇eedback loop that allows the pharmacist and the doctor an easy way to communicate.鈥�
Geisinger, which has been cited widely for its streamlined system of health care, uses electronic health records鈥搒omething federal officials are pushing other medical facilities to implement. Shrank said that Geisinger was a natural location for the study. 鈥淭hey are innovative, focused on quality improvement, and all the physicians prescribe electronically.鈥�