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As many as 30% of all refillable
prescriptions are never refilled. The majority of patients
who fail to refill their prescription do so because
they decide they do not need the medication or think
they need to stop it because they have developed a side
effect to the medication.
The costs when a patient
inappropriately stops taking a medication can be enormous:
- the
patient may develop serious medical complications
- the
pharmacy loses refill sales as well as the ability
to provide high quality pharmaceutical care
- the
health care system may have to pay to provide additional
treatment that would not have been necessary if the
patient continued taking the medication as prescribed
As the population ages,
the incidence of chronic diseases is increasing. To
help control health care costs, patients are being released
from hospitals sooner and must assume more responsibility
for their drug therapies at home. These patients are
often faced with the need to remember to obtain refills
for their prescriptions–many of them for the rest
of their lives. The challenge is to create an environment
that will facilitate refill behavior.
Once the patient is convinced
to refill the prescription, they need to know how to
manage commonly occurring side effects. This will help
ensure that the patient will not stop taking the medication
because of the development of a minor side effect.
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