HEALTH PLAN COSTS
SOARING BECAUSE EMPLOYEES
DO NOT TAKE MEDICATIONS CORRECTLY
Corporations are
losing millions of dollars annually because "50% of the
medications prescribed for employees and retirees are not
being taken correctly," it was stated at the National
Association of Employers on Health Care Action convention
in Palm Beach, Florida. The meeting was attended by directors
and managers of employee benefit plans, medical directors
and health care executives.
Addressing the
convention, Dr. Dorothy L. Smith, an internationally recognized
specialist in methods to improve patient compliance with
medications and President of Consumer Health Information
Corporation in McLean, Virginia, stated that, "It makes
no sense to continue paying more than $15 billion annually
for health costs associated with patient noncompliance with
medications when they can be prevented by educating people
how to take their medications correctly."
When employees
do not take medications correctly, Smith continued, the
Health Benefits Plans are forced to pay for additional doctor
visits, emergency room visits, additional laboratory tests,
hospitalizations, new medications, as well as the costs
of worker absenteeism and decreased work productivity.
For example, Smith
noted, one study demonstrated that the average annual medication
procurement cost for patients who took their medications
as directed was $250. This figure jumped to $1000 when the
patients suddenly stopped taking their medications. Smith
noted, too, that when patients become compliant (take their
medications as directed), the benefit:cost ratio of patient
education programs has been documented to be 100:1 due to
improved health.
Patients need
more information than can be typed on the prescription label,
Dr. Smith stressed in her remarks. To better control health
care costs, she said, the prescription instructions must
be explained by a pharmacist and a sheet of written instructions
should be given to each employee.