ST. LOUIS, April 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Many Americans on
medications for chronic diseases are not concerned about missing
doses, resent their spouses/partners reminding them to take their
medicine and think they do a better job than others at taking their
medication as prescribed. That's according to a new survey,
Knowing But Not Doing: The State of Rx Adherence in America
Report from Express Scripts (NASDAQ: ESRX).
The survey found that nearly one-third of those taking
prescription medications for chronic conditions say they are not
concerned about forgetting to take their medications despite the
fact that almost one-half believe it is the most important thing
they can do to protect their health. They also don't want to
be nagged by their spouse/partner about taking their medicine,
rating them as the most annoying source of reminders to take their
medicine.
Although not concerned if they miss a dose or two, people still
give themselves high marks for taking their medication as
prescribed, with 54 percent of respondents claiming they do a
better job of it than others — this is especially true for people
55 and older (60 percent). However, those who consciously
decide not to take their medication regularly, say that side
effects are the primary reason (44 percent), followed by an
inconvenient time of day (28 percent).
"This survey shows that while patients with chronic diseases
know that medication is critical to their treatment and health,
they don't always act on that knowledge," said Snezana Mahon, PharmD, vice president of Express
Scripts Clinical Solutions. "Given the huge cost of nonadherence to
an individual patient's health, as well as to the country as a
whole, it's essential for patients and clinicians to work together
to find solutions to help overcome barriers to adherence."
The U.S. wastes more than $300
billion each year on unnecessary medical costs – ER visits,
hospitalizations and extra tests – all to treat health
complications that could have been avoided.
Incentives Help the Medicine Go Down
The survey
suggests that financial rewards are one effective way to motivate
patients to be adherent. Two-thirds of those polled say they are
more likely to take better care of their health and adhere to their
medications when rewarded for their efforts, and those numbers
skyrocketed among the younger population (88 percent for those ages
18 - 34). Personal financial rewards were cited as the overwhelming
preference (82 percent) while charitable contributions were chosen
by a mere 3 percent of respondents.
While human reminders are not viewed favorably, technology-based
medication reminders are seen as helpful tools, especially among
adults under 55 years old; 74 percent of those 18-34 and 62 percent
of those 35-54 believe that assistance from mobile health apps or
wearable devices would help them be better at taking their
medicine.
The survey was conducted by Russell Research on behalf of
Express Scripts between February 14 - 22,
2018 among 800 adults (18 and older) taking medications to
treat any of the following chronic diseases: diabetes,
hypertension, high cholesterol, heart disease, depression/mental
health, gastrointestinal disorders, respiratory/asthma/COPD, cancer
and arthritis.
Advanced Technologies Address Adherence
Avoidance
Given that patients are more open to technology to
help them improve adherence, Express Scripts partners with Mango
Health, a mobile health company that provides a daily health
management platform to improve health outcomes by improving healthy
behaviors, including medication adherence.
The Mango app helps patients develop healthy habits and manage
their medication adherence by tackling the biggest driver of
non-adherence: forgetting. It helps people follow their doctors'
instructions by making it easy to track the medication schedule and
set up reminders, and facilitates ordering prescriptions directly
from their device with the pharmacy of their choice. The app also
educates patients about their chronic conditions, and offers
solutions for caregivers who can track their loved one's
medications even when living in different cities.
Express Scripts also partners with other healthcare technology
companies, such as Propeller Health, Livongo and LifeScan, to
improve adherence and treatment outcomes through real-time remote
monitoring, which helps members and their Express Scripts
specialist pharmacists better manage chronic conditions including
diabetes, asthma and COPD, and address adherence issues
immediately.
Predicting medication nonadherence before it starts is another
way Express Scripts helps patients stay on track with their
therapy. Through ScreenRx®, Express Scripts' proprietary,
real-time, disease-specific predictive model, we identify patients
at risk of nonadherence with as much as 94 percent accuracy, and
then personalize interventions -- delivered by specialist
pharmacists -- to help patients overcome the barriers to adherence
and stay on their therapy.
"We see the highest rates of medication adherence across our 80
million members who use the Express Scripts and Accredo pharmacies,
where patients are supported by data-driven resources and
specialist pharmacists who understand their medication needs and
issues," said Mahon. "The next best rates of adherence are among
those in plans that offer a 90-day supply coverage through a retail
pharmacy or home delivery. Once patients with chronic conditions
are on stable doses of their medication, these options offer higher
adherence, fewer opportunities to forget refills and renewals, and
lower costs per day of therapy than the traditional 30-day supply
of medication."
About Express Scripts
Express Scripts is leading the
way for tens of millions of people by aligning with plan sponsors,
taking bold action and delivering patient-centered care to make
better health more affordable and accessible.
Headquartered in St. Louis,
Express Scripts provides a full range of integrated pharmacy
benefit management services, including home delivery pharmacy care,
specialty pharmacy care and benefit management, benefit-design
consultation, drug utilization review, formulary management and
medical and drug data analysis, that guide patients and plans
toward better health by prioritizing care and increasing savings.
Our services drive down the cost of care for employer-funded,
Medicare, Medicaid and Public Exchange plans, and create the
headroom needed to keep patients' cost-share low, access broad, and
do more for those who are challenged by high out-of-pocket costs.
Express Scripts also distributes a full range of biopharmaceutical
products and offers innovative medical benefit management
services.
For more information, visit Lab.Express-Scripts.com or follow
@ExpressScripts on Twitter.
Contacts:
Jennifer
Luddy
Express Scripts
201-269-6402
jennifer_luddy@express-scripts.com
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