Message from a Bottle: Could a technology that urges people to take their medications help cut the cost of health care?

Technology Review
October 6, 2010

It's like flipping a coin with your health. Despite the fact that their medications could save or extend their lives, the average patient fails to follow their pill prescription half the time. The reasons behind this failure are varied...but the problem costs an estimated $290 billion in emergency-room visits and other avoidable medical expenses in the United States alone, according to the New England Healthcare Institute...

Beyond simply forgetting, patients may fail to take their medications because the drugs or copays cost too much, because they aren't well informed about why the drugs necessary to treat their illness, or because they simply aren't engaged in caring for their own health, says Tom Hubbard, who oversees research on medication adherence at the New England Healthcare Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Link to Full Article: http://www.technologyreview.com/business/26414/?p1=A4