An economic evaluation of anticipated costs and savings of a behavior change intervention to enhance medication adherence

Medication adherence across disease states is generally poor. Research has focused on various methods to improve medication adherence, but there is little conclusive evidence regarding specific methods efficacy. The Transtheoretical Model for Behavior Change has been used to modify existing addictive behaviors but not in medication adherence specifically. As a behavioral component is inherently related to medication adherence, it is thought that this model may be applicable. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this research is to evaluate the costs and savings of implementing a novel behavioral intervention against the cost of poor medication adherence to determine whether further development is realistic. METHODS: The basic tools required to administer this intervention were determined through primary literature review and priced by vendors supplying such materials. Diabetes Mellitus Type 2 (DM2) was used as a vehicle to establish the cost of care for long-term complications of a chronic disease. The primary literature provided information regarding the cost of care for DM2 morbidity and outpatient annual drug therapy expenditure. The total cost of the behavioral intervention components and the cost of care for DM2 morbidity were applied to a theoretical cohort of 1000 patients. By dividing this cost across 1000 patients, a per-patient cost was yielded and multiplied over a 16-year timeframe. RESULTS: It was found that the cost to implement the behavioral intervention and resultant medication costs is USD13,574 per-patient over 16 years. The cost to treat complications of diabetes mellitus is USD 36,528 per patient over the 16 years. The total amount of healthcare dollars potentially saved by utilizing this intervention is USD 22,954 per-patient. CONCLUSIONS: It appears that the cost to implement this behavioral intervention is reasonable and permits further evaluation in other chronic conditions with notoriously poor adherence levels.