Why Medication Adherence Matters: The Crucial Role of Pharmacy

Having been a pharmacist for many years, I know that?medication adherence?has, and continues to be, a huge challenge for healthcare providers. When I owned my pharmacy, a large sign hung on the wall quoting former surgeon general Everett Koop,?“medication only works for those patients that take them.”?This seems like a rather simple concept. However, one of the biggest hurdles I faced over the years was how to get patients to take their?routine prescription medications?correctly. I would call their doctors for prescription refills, bill the prescriptions and get them covered by their insurance companies, dispense their medications in compliance packaging (sorting medications by the time of day and/or day of the week), bill their credit cards for the co-pays and deliver their medications to their doorsteps. Even with all these steps in place, I could not guarantee patients would remain adherent and compliant.??

The patients were aware that by taking their medications correctly, they could lead healthier and longer lives, but this was not enough to convince them to take their medications. Studies show that between 50 -?60%?of patients either take their medications improperly or not at all.1?This usually results in unnecessary visits to the emergency room (ER), prolonged hospital stays and maybe even fatalities.???

Adherence to medication regimes?is vital for achieving the desired therapeutic outcomes and preventing adverse effects. To gain a better understanding of medication adherence, we must first define it. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) states that, "Medication adherence, or taking medications correctly, is generally defined as the extent to which patients take medication as prescribed by their doctors. This involves factors such as getting prescriptions filled, remembering to take medication on time, and understanding the directions." According to the American Medical Association, a patient is said to be adherent if they correctly take 80% of their prescriptions. Patients are considered non-adherent if they take less than 80% of the recommended medication(s). Additionally, prescriptions for Healthy America say, "Medication adherence occurs when a patient takes their medications according to the prescribed dosage, time, frequency, and direction."?

Health-related non-adherence costs the US economy $500 billion yearly, or 16% of total health expenditures. The particular cause?of 125,000 annual fatalities and 10% of hospital admissions is pharmaceutical non-adherence. Compared to other healthcare providers, pharmacists meet patients with chronic diseases 10 times more frequently, giving them the opportunity to support and train patients on adherence more regularly. In 2022, total prescription dispensing revenues of retail, long-term care, mail, and specialty pharmacies totaled $550 billion (excluding COVID-19 vaccinations).???

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