Encouraging Patients to Stick to Drug Regimens Could Help Cap Rising Health-Care Costs

Patients Who Skip Medication Courses Putting Their Health at Risk and May Need Additional Treatment, Says Cinfa

Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Encouraging patients to stick to their drugs regimens would improve their care and could also help to reduce rising healthcare costs, says Spanish pharmaceutical company, Cinfa.

According to a study by Quest Diagnostics, 63 percent of patients in the US didn’t follow the prescribed medication regimen given by their doctor correctly. This can have serious implications for patients’ health. For instance, not taking all prescribed doses of an antibiotic can lead to an infection flaring up again, people with heart disease will increase their risk of cardiac arrest, while people with high blood pressure may suffer a stroke, says Dr. Ahmed El Hakim, Senior Advisor to Cinfa.

While this can have serious or even fatal implications for patients, the additional treatment that may be required to treat resulting complications adds to medical costs and puts further strain on precious resources.

A study by the medical journal Health Affairs found that the US medical system could save USD 8.3 billion a year by improving adherence to medications among diabetes sufferers alone, with savings including reduced hospitalizations and emergency-room visits.

Chronic conditions such as heart disease and diabetes are spreading across the Middle East, caused by factors such as an ageing population, sedentary lifestyle and rising obesity, according to Deloitte’s 2014 Global Health Care report.

“Encouraging patients to stick more closely to the medication regimens prescribed by their doctors is extremely important to improving their health and well-being. Furthermore, it will also help to cap the rising health-care costs we are seeing here in this region as the numbers of people with chronic conditions increase,” added Dr. Hakim. “That would not only keep costs down but could also help to save other peoples’ lives: If one patient averted an emergency-room visit by adhering to his drugs regimen, then a hospital bed or a surgeon’s time may be available for another patient.”

GCC governments are investing heavily in healthcare initiatives as part of plans to diversify their economies and enhance standards. Healthcare spending across the GCC is expected to rise to US$ 69.4 billion by 2018 from an estimated US$ 39.4 billion in 2013, with Qatar and the UAE the fastest growing markets, according to Alpen Capital.  As medical costs continue to soar, governments are looking at ways of reining them in.

From next year the Dubai Health Authority will approve price increases of medical services based on 136 indicators, including performance such as readmission rates, patient satisfaction, clinical outcomes and external economic factors such as cost of staffing, rent and the availability of new medicines.