From Aging in Place to Clinical Trials: Lowering Health Care Costs with Medication Adherence

Medication nonadherence has a significant negative impact on disease prevention and treatment; from increasing the likelihood of preventable disease progression and hospitalizations to avoidable doctor and emergency room visits, nonadherence can adversely affect patients’ long-term health and increase costs of care. With the rapidly growing elderly population disproportionally affected by this issue, finding ways to promote better adherence can significantly reduce potential complications and allow elderly to independently age in place. In this report, we evaluate the different medication adherence technologies and how they satisfy the needs of the key stakeholders – patients, physicians, pharma, and payers. Through this analysis, we determine that smart delivery technologies stand the best chance of having a positive impact on increasing medication adherence, but still require technology improvements to achieve widespread adoption.