A new study from Geisinger Health System, published in the American Journal of Managed Care, shows which patients are most likely to follow the physician's drug-prescription orders, according to a study in the Daily Item.
Here are five key notes:
1. The employers offering insurance plans without copays for prescriptions reported savings and positive return-on-investment, according to the report.
2. Patients who don't have drug prescription copays follow the physician's orders exactly but the patients who do have copays are more likely to stray from the medication program.
3. Chronic illness patients don't always realize the full benefits of treatment because 50 percent of those patients don't take the medications as prescribed. One reason why they don't adhere to the program is the copay cost.
4. Even low out-of-pocket costs can lead to drug therapy non-adherence.
5. Geisinger employs a value-based insurance program aimed at making medications available for free to high-risk populations, showing an improvement in care quality and cost-savings.