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People would be healthier if they took their medications as prescribed. Fundamentally, we all know this. Outcomes would improve. Quality of life and lifespans would increase. Total health care costs would recede, because healthier people require less health care services.
Physicians and their teams could spend more time working with their patients on the next steps in their health, rather than feeling mired in the same challenges. Their ability to deliver delight in the patient journey would improve. Their performance and success in value-based care models would leap forward.
The paradox: If we have unwavering belief that improved medication adherence can unlock healthier lives for patients, as well as greater impact and financial performance for physicians, why does it remain such a dramatically under-resourced and disjointed function of health care delivery?
All too often, patients receive life-changing news about their health—new conditions, new medications, new complexity to manage. Their prescriptions are sent off to be filled; maybe the patients receive some educational information. But then what?