PharmaPhonetics™ Patient Adherence and Compliance Facts

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"Increasing the effectiveness of adherence interventions may have a far greater impact on the health of the population than any improvement in specific medical treatments." ¹

Patient Adherence, Compliance and Persistency Facts

There is an increasing mountain of evidence regarding the cost and impact of patient non-adherence and compliance and persistency with prescribed medication treatments.

• Chronic medication compliance has been estimated at only 50% in two different studies.¹
• Fewer than one in three patients are adherent with combined anti-hypertensive and lipid-lowering therapy at six months.²
• The longer a patient is on a drug, the more likely they are to start skipping doses.³
• Estimates for prescriptions that are never filled vary from 20-33%, with estimates for refills never filled even higher (30-40%).
• The cost of noncompliance has been estimated in the billions for all stakeholders- employers, the healthcare system, pharmacies, insurance companies, hospitals, and pharmaceutical manufacturers.
• The cost of noncompliance for the average pharmaceutical brand is 38% of its sales, and $30 billion in lost revenue for the industry,⁴ with an additional $8 billion annual revenue loss for pharmacies in unfilled prescriptions.⁵
• The FDA estimates that 90 million Americans have low health literacy, meaning they don't understand their condition or treatment regimen.
• The June, 2007 Guideline Trend Report published in MedAd News estimates lost annual revenue in the statin category at $4 billion dollars annually.

Even incremental gains in compliance can reap big rewards for a product line in sales, generate a positive ROI, and help break through the barriers of patient compliance.

See the benefits of a PharmaPhonetics™ Patient Adherence program, visit our product overview to learn more about our Patient Adherence programs. Contact us, or telephone us at 585-248-9289 for additional details.


1 Haynes RB, Interventions for helping patients to follow prescriptions for medications: Cochrane Database of Systematic Review, 2001 Issue I, and 1.

2 Chapman RH, Benner JS, Petrilla AA, et al. Predictors of adherence with antihypertensive and lipid-lowering therapy. Arch Intern Med 2005;165:1147-1152.

3 NCPIE, Enhancing Prescription Medicine Adherence: A National Action Plan, (2007).

4 Cutting Edge Information, Pharmaceutical Patient Adherence and Disease Management: Program development, Management and Improvement.

5 Jackson RA, Worthen DB, Barrett CW. The financial aspects of improved refill management. Practice Opportunities. Cinncincati, Ohio : Proctor & Gamble Health Care; 1998:1-15.