Improving Medication Adherence

MedlinePlus.gov
May 17, 2010

A recent essay in The New England Journal of Medicine notes successful examples where efforts by health care organizations result in a higher than normal number of patients who follow the regimen of medications prescribed by physicians. To backup, the essay's two authors explain one of the core problems in improving the health care delivery system is what physicians call 'medication adherence,' patients following prescription instructions...

The authors cite recent research that only about half of all patients faithfully follow a prescribed medication regimen. More than $100 million is spent annually on avoidable hospitalizations simply because patients did not (or could not) follow medication instructions. The authors, from Harvard University and the New England Healthcare Institute, add another recent study suggests about 89,000 premature deaths in the U.S. could be prevented annually if patients complied with instructions for prescribed medications for high blood pressure, or hypertension...

Link to Full Article: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/podcast/transcript051710.html