Medication adherence: Back to the basics

Did you know?

For most conditions, medications need to be taken 80% or more of the time to see an improvement in clinical outcomes such as blood pressure, blood glucose, or cholesterol control.  

Knowing this, it’s not surprising there is a strong emphasis on medication adherence and proportion of days covered (PDC) for the medication adherence quality measures.

Medications are the primary intervention in treating and preventing disease and require patients to take medications long term. Unrecognized non-adherence can lead to dose escalation or additional medication therapy, potentially leading to an increase in adverse events. In addition, not adherence leads to increased medical utilization and morbidity and mortality.

Back to the basics: How can we close the adherence gap?

1. Know which patients are at risk for non-adherence:
   • Cognitive Impairment
   • Fear of side effects 
   • Too many medications
   • History of non-adherence
   • Lack of perceived benefit 
   • Confusion
   • Transportation
   • Cost
     Consider medication non-adherence as a reason when a patient’s condition is not under control.
2. Implement a standardized process to identify patients with non-adherence: 
   • Ask about adherence at every appointment. 
   • Incorporate patient questionnaires or targeted questions using open ended questions into existing workflows.
   • Analyze non-adherence reporting or claims to identify patients.
3. Together with the patient, tailor the solution to the patient’s needs or concerns:
   • Simplify the medication regimen. 
   • Always educate patients on benefits and risks of taking or not taking their medications.
   • Leverage real-time prescription benefit to select lower cost and formulary medications during the electronic prescribing process. 
   • Encourage CarelonRx, Inc.* Mail and prescribe extended day supply to prevent refill gaps, avoid long waits at the pharmacy, and minimize transportation barriers.