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Particularly common among elderly Americans, medication non-adherence costs our nation’s healthcare system from $100 billion to $290 billion each year, according to studies reviewed in the Annals of Internal Medicine (AIM). Other research cited by the publication shows that 20% to 30% of prescribed medications are left unfilled by patients, while roughly 50% of medications for chronic diseases aren’t used by patients as prescribed.
That latter percentage is astounding given the debilitating and costly effects of chronic diseases on older Americans, many of whom have multiple chronic conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and COPD. Other studies reviewed by AIM estimate medication non-adherence causes approximately 125,000 deaths annually in the U.S. A study published in 2017 concluded that previously hospitalized patients with low and intermediate adherence (combined) had a 30-day readmission rate of 20%, more than twice the 9.3% readmission rate for patients with high adherence.