Report seeks more action on medication noncompliance

Physicians can do their part by regularly asking patients whether they are having trouble taking their medicine.

By Kevin B. O'Reilly, AMNews staff. Sept. 10, 2007.

Patients commonly fail to take their medications as directed, leading to unnecessary hospital admissions and even death, costing the health care system as much as $177 billion a year. Yet nonadherence has not been given the attention and resources it deserves, says a new report.

Noncompliance has "been overlooked as a serious public health issue and ... received little direct, systematic or sustained intervention," according to the National Council on Patient Information and Education's August white paper. The group, which counts the AMA as a member, is a coalition of business, consumer, government and health professional groups. The new report says improving adherence is simply "not on the radar screen" of many policymakers.

The problem can seem "intractable," said NCPIE Executive Vice President W. Ray Bullman. Studies have shown that patients fail to stick to their regimens for a wide array of reasons, ranging from out-of-pocket costs and side effects to poor understanding of their medicines or illnesses. A fragmented health care system and low health literacy compound the problem. And doctors pressed for time find it hard to tell patients everything they need to know about the medicine being prescribed.

According to Food and Drug Administration surveys, in 1996 only 26% of patients said their physicians told them about their medication's side effects and how and when to take it. In 2004, the figure was unchanged. A similar measure of pharmacist communication actually dropped from 14% in 1996 to 6% in 2004.