Sticking With Your Medications
The former Surgeon General of the United States, Dr. C. Everett Koop, once said, “Drugs don’t work in patients who don’t take them.” He also said, “No medication works inside a bottle. Period.” What Dr. Koop means is that in order for your medications to be effective, you must take them in the way your doctor has prescribed. This can be difficult when you are taking multiple medications, at different times during the day, and for varying lengths of time.
What is Medication Adherence?
Medication adherence, or compliance, is defined as the ability to take a medication exactly as a doctor has prescribed. This includes taking every dose, every day for the full course of treatment.
Why does it matter to me?
133 million people in the US have at least one chronic disease and account for about 55% of all emergency room visits
Poor medication adherence leads to about 89,000 early deaths per year
Avoidable hospitalizations due to poor medication adherence cost roughly $100 billion per year
Read the full version of Winter 2013 Tria Health Talk
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