Medication Adherence as it Relates to Quality of Diabetes Care

Josh Benner, PharmD, ScD, says nonadherence in diabetes medication is a large contributor to high costs in healthcare, and should be a priority for care givers. Macrotrends in both policy and practice may change this problem. One such trend is the growing amount of evidence linking adherence to clinical outcomes and costs. That evidence can then work its way into the development of quality measures. Another example of a macrotrend is the drive for meaningful use of electronic health records.

“As frustrated as many of us are that we're not improving adherence widely, the truth is that it's not because we don't know how,” says Dr Benner. “Many people used to think of this as pharma's problem or as patients' problem, but now it's payers problem and it's providers' problem. So we all share responsibility for making this better.”

Consensus-based quality measures, especially in the area of diabetes medication use, will continue to improve adherence rates and reduce costs on the health system.