Value of Adherence

Darius Lakdawalla, PhD, addresses the value of diabetes patients’ adherence in this clip. According to Dr Lakdawalla, diabetes patients account for about one-third of total Medicare spending. By 2050, that percentage could be one half of Medicare spending. Risk factors, including the rise of obesity in the population, are contributing to the increase of diabetes diagnoses.

To control rising costs, Dr Lakdawalla suggests interventions must be made, including biomedical innovation and technologies that can improve medication adherence. Improved adherence could be worth almost $13,000 per patient with diabetes

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“Some payers have been reluctant to reimburse technologies that focus specifically on adherence and convenience and those kinds of outcomes,” says Dr Lakdawalla. “That's changing with the implementation of the ACA and other kinds of policies in which payers are taking a more holistic role in care. Those changes, I think, are to be encouraged.”