<p>Pharmacist-led medication non-adherence intervention: reducing the economic burden placed on the Australian health care system</p>

Abstract

Background: Scarcity of prospective medication non-adherence cost measurements for the Australian population with no directly measured estimates makes determining the burden medication non-adherence places on the Australian health care system difficult. This study aims to indirectly estimate the national cost of medication non-adherence in Australia comparing the cost prior to and following a community pharmacy-led intervention. Methods: Retrospective observational study. A de-identified database of dispensing data from 20,335 patients (n=11,257 on rosuvastatin, n=6,797 on irbesartan and n=2,281 on desvenlafaxine) was analyzed and average adherence rate determined through calculation of PDC. Included patients received a pharmacist-led medication adherence intervention and had twelve months dispensing records; six months before and six months after the intervention. The national cost estimate of medication non-adherence in hypertension, dyslipidemia and depression pre- and post-intervention was determined through utilization of disease prevalence and comorbidity, non-adherence rates and per patient disease-specific adherence-related costs. Results: The total national cost of medication non-adherence across three prevalent conditions, hypertension, dyslipidemia and depression was $10.4 billion equating to $517 per adult. Following enrollment in the pharmacist-led intervention medication non-adherence costs per adult decreased $95 saving the Australian health care system and patients $1.9 billion annually. Conclusion: In the absence of a directly measured national cost of medication non-adherence, this estimate demonstrates that pharmacists are ideally placed to improve patient adherence and reduce financial burden placed on the health care system due to non-adherence. Funding of medication adherence programs should be considered by policy and decision makers to ease the current burden and improve patient health outcomes moving forward.

Medication adherence, recall periods and factors affecting it: A community‐based assessment on patients with chronic diseases in urban slums

“…Better use of medicines can improve quality of life through reduced hospitalisations and improved health outcomes such as morbidity and mortality. 4 In a low-and-middle-income country, such as India, it is imperative to note that this financial loss is higher. 5 Various factors responsible for non-adherence have been identified-gender, ethnicity, occupation, duration of disease, stress, substance abuse, forgetfulness, lack of family support, high case load of health facilities etc.…”

Impact of pharmaceutical care in the orthopaedic department

“…In many countries, medication education is one of the evaluation indicators for clinical pharmacists and has been proved to increase treatment adherence . It has been reported in Australia that the cost of non‐adherence per adult dropped by $95 as PIs saved the Australian healthcare system and patients $1.9 billion annually . Moreover, ADEs can be prevented with better guidance on adherence .…”

A cohort study of medication adherence among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Egypt

“…This study also found a significant increase in medication adherence in the intervention group compared with controls 27 . A study conducted in Australia also found that a pharmacist-led intervention targeted to patients with hypertension, dyslipidemia, or depression saved US$1.9 billion annually 28 . This suggests that similar programs targeted to COPD patients might also yield health economic benefits.…”