Medication adherence among populations of patients with hypertension, hyperlipidemia and diabetes has improved 3 to 4 percent since 2009, according to a report released by the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics.
The report examines six areas that contribute to unnecessary costs. The areas are medication nonadherence, delayed evidence-based treatment practice, misuse of antibiotics, medication errors, suboptimal use of generics and mismanaged polypharmacy in older adults.
Key findings of the report include:
• Medication nonadherence drives the largest avoidable cost, an estimated $105 billion annually.
• Delays in applying evidence-based treatment to patients lead to $40 billion in annual avoidable costs.
• Some signs of improvement are evident in the responsible use of antibiotics.
• Many efforts are underway to address the underlying causes of avoidable spending and to improve medication use.
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