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Should we pay non-compliant patients to take their medicine (to save $ down the road)

Should we pay non-compliant patients to take their medicine (to save $ down the road

  • Yes, if it will save money I'm all for it

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Maybe in some cases

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    11

MyOwnDrum

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Here's a novel idea. One third to one half of patients do not take their medicine as prescribed, leading to expensive complications. A new proposal wants to reward them financially when they take medicine as prescribed. This is supposed to save money in more expensive hospitalizations.

For Forgetful, Cash Helps the Medicine Go Down - NYTimes.com

It has long been one of the most vexing causes of America’s skyrocketing health costs: people not taking their medicine.
One-third to one-half of all patients do not take medication as prescribed, and up to one-quarter never fill prescriptions at all, experts say. Such lapses fuel more than $100 billion dollars in health costs annually because those patients often get sicker.

Now, a controversial, and seemingly counterintuitive, effort to tackle the problem is gaining ground: paying people money to take medicine or to comply with prescribed treatment. The idea, which is being embraced by doctors, pharmacy companies, insurers and researchers, is that paying modest financial incentives up front can save much larger costs of hospitalization.

“It’s better to spend money on medication adherence for patients, rather than having them boomerang in and out of the hospital,” said Valerie Fleishman, executive director of the New England Healthcare Institute, a research organization, who said that about one-tenth of hospital admissions and one-quarter of nursing home admissions result from incorrect adherence to medication. “Financial incentives are a critical piece of the solution.”
 
Re: Should we pay non-compliant patients to take their medicine (to save $ down the r

Problem with this is that people will then refuse to take medication unless they are getting paid. Stupid idea.
 
Re: Should we pay non-compliant patients to take their medicine (to save $ down the r

LOL. Too funny, I don't even know how to respond to this idiotic idea.
 
Re: Should we pay non-compliant patients to take their medicine (to save $ down the r

LOL. Too funny, I don't even know how to respond to this idiotic idea.

Vote: I can't believe this. What has the world come to?
 
Re: Should we pay non-compliant patients to take their medicine (to save $ down the r

Before I read the article I was thinking the incentive was mostly for the mentally ill who are on the street with TB or whatever. I was a little surprised once I read the article and I'd like to see more data like....What are the ages of the patients who are forgetting to take the meds? What percentage of the patients are mentally ill, homeless, mentally handicapped, AND does their illness affect the way they think about (or don't think about) their illness?

The article doesn't give me enough information.
 
Re: Should we pay non-compliant patients to take their medicine (to save $ down the r

"Doctor, I can't remember to take my meds, duh. I need something to encourage me. I'm gonna die! I need beer money too, otherwise I'll forget to take my meds. Can you pay my electric bill too?"
 
Re: Should we pay non-compliant patients to take their medicine (to save $ down the r

Here's a novel idea. One third to one half of patients do not take their medicine as prescribed, leading to expensive complications. A new proposal wants to reward them financially when they take medicine as prescribed. This is supposed to save money in more expensive hospitalizations.

For Forgetful, Cash Helps the Medicine Go Down - NYTimes.com

You can't fix stupid by throwing money at it.

Haven't we learned this already?
 
Re: Should we pay non-compliant patients to take their medicine (to save $ down the r

How could you even regulate this??

"Oh yeah... I took my medicine ;);) Now where's my money?"
 
Re: Should we pay non-compliant patients to take their medicine (to save $ down the r

Do I get paid per pill? I take 7 in the morning and 8 in the evening. I have never missed a dose and I feel bad when I'm off by half an hour. Oh and I have to pay for these pills.
 
Re: Should we pay non-compliant patients to take their medicine (to save $ down the r

Vote: I can't believe this. What has the world come to?

I did :)
......
 
Re: Should we pay non-compliant patients to take their medicine (to save $ down the r

No. All you need to do is withhold future medical treatment unless they pay 100% out of pocket.
 
Re: Should we pay non-compliant patients to take their medicine (to save $ down the r

We seem to all want to stop the overspending in health care and re-insert common sense! So here's a bit of information to turn the heat up on this debate: 40% of Medicare dollars go to the elderly during their last month of life.

40%!!!!

Could you imagine how much we could save if we found a way to reduce those costs? I'm not suggesting we end payouts or stop taking care of people in their final hours. Afterall, we don't always even know when that will be. So we don't know we're in the last month until it's too late sometimes. But usually it's obvious. So what can I do about this? Well, when I feel the end is near, I am going to insist on going home, without medication and try to be happy. So that I will not participate in this over-expenditure. If I'm going to die anyway, it might as well be economical. If I save my last month's worth of spending, I will be able to fund someone else's life on medicare (from age 65 through 1 month prior to death). If that means I lose a couple of weeks or I'm in extra pain, so be it.
 
Re: Should we pay non-compliant patients to take their medicine (to save $ down the r

Absolutely not. Why pay people for being stupid? Whatever you pay for, you get more of.
 
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Re: Should we pay non-compliant patients to take their medicine (to save $ down the r

No. All you need to do is withhold future medical treatment unless they pay 100% out of pocket.

^^^^^ This.
 
Re: Should we pay non-compliant patients to take their medicine (to save $ down the r

We seem to all want to stop the overspending in health care and re-insert common sense! So here's a bit of information to turn the heat up on this debate: 40% of Medicare dollars go to the elderly during their last month of life.

40%!!!!

Link please

Could you imagine how much we could save if we found a way to reduce those costs? I'm not suggesting we end payouts or stop taking care of people in their final hours. Afterall, we don't always even know when that will be. So we don't know we're in the last month until it's too late sometimes. But usually it's obvious. So what can I do about this? Well, when I feel the end is near, I am going to insist on going home, without medication and try to be happy. So that I will not participate in this over-expenditure. If I'm going to die anyway, it might as well be economical. If I save my last month's worth of spending, I will be able to fund someone else's life on medicare (from age 65 through 1 month prior to death). If that means I lose a couple of weeks or I'm in extra pain, so be it.


That's just silly. End of life, comfort measures are not costly. If there are higher costs involved I suspect it comes from surgeries or ICU costs. If what you say is true you can probably place the blame on those people who refuse to believe they're ever going to die. The ones who have their health directive state that all life saving measures should be utilized.....the ones who don't sign a DNR. There are also many family members who are placed in charge of the patient. They're making decisions to "save" a loved one and will never sign a DNR or move to comfort care.

Planning is important as is naming someone who will carry out your wishes.

End of life....comfort care measures either at home with Hospice or at a hospital are not that costly.


:peace
 
Re: Should we pay non-compliant patients to take their medicine (to save $ down the r

No, for all the reasons mentioned.
 
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