Drug Compliance: Barriers to Care

Here is a graph indicating what goes into patients not taking their medication as prescribed.  As expected, according to patients cost is the main driver of non-compliance but nearly equally important is failure to remember to take medication.  Difficulty in reading prescription bottle labels and inability to obtain refills are about equally important.

Let's address each of these in turn:

• Cost is not as important as you might think.  We aggressively solicit samples from pharmaceutical firms for drugs which we think will benefit you and make them available on a case by case basis as needed.  Also this office helps with filling out the forms for patient assistance programs.
• There are devices that assist with memory recall.  Almost every adult has a cell phone and all of the newer models have calendars and alarm clocks.  It is not difficult to program your phone to remind you to take your medication.
• If you can't read the label when you pick up your medication, ask the pharmacist to put your medication in a larger bottle and put a bigger label on it. 
• Refills are easy to obtain:
  • Remember to keep your appointments.  Your prescriptions are generally written to coincide with the interval between scheduled office visits.  If you don't keep your appointments, it is impossible (and illegal)to refill your drugs.
  • Do not request refills when you are out of medication.  That's too late.  You will invariably have a gap of 2-3 days before you prescription can be called in.  Plan ahead, and call for a refill when you have about a week's worth of medication.

Comments

[Alex Sicre]

Doc Roosevelt:

Thank you for addressing medication non-adherence on your blog. It is America's Biggest Drug problem, costing the US $300 Billion annually in unnecessary healthcare costs, and lost revenue - not to mention the sub-par outcomes and worsening of disease states.

I know of another tool to help combat this pandemic. The company I work for, Intelecare, provides a free web-based medical reminder platform for patients and caregivers. Users choose the type of reminder message (daily medications, prescription refills, doctor's appointment and vital stat monitoring), time and delivery options (email, text and voice messaging). Intelecare delivers the message how and when the patient or caregiver wants them.

I hope our services can help your readers who have trouble remembering to take their meds.

Best,
Alex

[Rich Sagall, MD]

All the information on pharmaceutical patient assistance programs plus hundreds of other programs is available for free at www.needymeds.com. Each workday over 9,500 people visit our site. We have all the applications on the website.

Our information is ease to access, updated regularly, and free. We gather no information about our users.

You don't have to pay to apply to these programs. Most are easy to apply to and respond quickly.

Rich Sagall, MD
President
NeedyMeds.com, Inc.
P.O. Box 219
Gloucester, MA 01931
richsagall@needymeds.com