Strategies Towards Chronic Disease Management via Medication Compliance

In the wake of the 21st century, healthcare systems around the globe are faced with an exponential rise in expenses, heavy utilization of services associated with a steep rise in aging population, and limited financial as well as human resources to manage the growing healthcare needs. Multiple studies in the past have noted the prevalence of chronic diseases in the aging population. Medicare’s high-risk patients with five or more chronic diseases account for approximately 78% of all health care spending well over a trillion dollar per year and/or over two-thirds of Medicare’s annual spending. A large percentage of chronic diseases deteriorate to the point where a crisis is reached resulting in unnecessary long-term hospitalization at massive cost to the healthcare sector. A critical inference drawn from epidemiological data and past studies is that preventing occurrences of acute episodes holds the key to providing quality healthcare, reducing incidences of prolonged hospitalizations and resultant healthcare expenses. This research is a work-in-progress that seeks to explore innovative strategies towards promoting medication compliance among chronic patients. This paper discusses the need for medication compliance and the cost of noncompliance to the healthcare sector. Salient behavioral, organizational, and technical research issues, opportunities, and challenges associated with promoting medication compliance via communication, computing, and sensing technologies are discussed. Potential benefits and costs of deploying innovative IT based medication compliance are also presented.