Medications are often time sensitive. Whether it’s to ensure effectiveness, minimize side effects or avoid drug interactions, when and how patients take their prescriptions matters. Medication non-adherence remains one of healthcare’s most persistent and costly challenges. Even with established interventions in place, research shows that up to 50% of patients do not take their medications as prescribed. Medication non-adherence contributes to over 100,000 preventable deaths annually, drives unnecessary ER visits and hospitalizations and adds billions in avoidable healthcare costs each year.
The clinical and economic impact of improving medication adherence is well-documented. What’s less clear, and far more complex, is why non-adherence occurs in the first place. Understanding the root cause is essential to developing targeted, scalable solutions — and this is where AI-driven patient support programs (PSPs) can make a measurable impact.
Why Medication Non-Adherence Occurs
Improving adherence begins by identifying the many reasons patients don’t follow treatment plans:
1. Cost and Access
High copays, lack of insurance or high-deductible plans can prevent patients from initiating or continuing treatment. In addition, logistical barriers — such as not having time to visit the pharmacy or difficulty navigating mail-order systems — can further reduce adherence, especially for elderly or busy caregivers.
2. Side Effects
Some patients stop taking medications due to unpleasant side effects or the fear of them. Nausea, fatigue, dizziness and other issues can interfere with daily life and discourage continued use, especially when patients aren’t informed about what to expect or how side effects can be managed.
However, side effects may also signal that a medication is working as intended. By helping patients understand this and framing side effects as part of the therapy journey, healthcare providers can encourage patients to stay focused on the long-term benefits of their treatment.
3. Health Literacy and Communication Gaps
When prescriber instructions aren’t clear or are misinterpreted, patients may mistakenly think they’re being adherent when they aren’t. Complex medical terms, inconsistent terminology or unclear dosage instructions can lead to confusion and accidental non-adherence.
4. Forgetfulness and Distraction
Forgetfulness remains one of the top reasons patients skip medications. While elderly populations and those with cognitive issues are certainly vulnerable, distractions and busy lifestyles also play a major role across all age groups. In some cases, patients may even dispute adherence reminders, believing they’ve already taken their medication.
5. Denial or Unwillingness
Some patients don’t believe a medication is necessary, effective or worth the risk. Others may feel overwhelmed by the number of medications they’re taking. Even those who value their treatment plan may resist adherence due to fears about drug interactions or side effects.
6. Mental Health Challenges
Depression and related mental health conditions also negatively impact adherence. One study found patients with depression were twice as likely to skip treatment compared to those without symptoms. Skipping mental health medications often correlates with decreased adherence across all prescribed therapies.
Why Timing Matters for Adherence
Certain medications require strict timing to work effectively. For instance, some cancer therapies depend on consistent dosage intervals. In polypharmacy cases, spacing medications properly can reduce interactions and side effects. Other medications, such as those for hypertension, may be more effective at specific times of day — research suggests bedtime doses improve outcomes compared to morning doses.
Failure to follow timing guidelines can result in reduced efficacy, worsened conditions, side effects or dangerous drug interactions.
How AI Can Personalize Adherence Programs at Scale
Life sciences organizations are turning to AI to solve this challenge at scale. By integrating AI into PSPs, organizations can predict which patients are at high risk of non-adherence and take proactive steps to intervene.
AI helps:
- Identify the most at-risk patients based on demographics, therapy complexity, prescription history and behavioral patterns
- Tailor outreach to each individual by determining the best message, delivery channel, timing and frequency
- Improve patient engagement while optimizing operational efficiency and reducing reliance on manual processes
For example, AllazoHealth, an AssistRx solution, enables smarter outreach and more personalized communication, helping PSPs reach the right patients at the right time with the right message. This data-driven approach enhances adherence and improves overall health outcomes while easing the burden on support teams.
The Broader Impact of Non-Adherence
While non-adherence directly affects individual patients and caregivers, the impact ripples across the entire healthcare ecosystem. Increased hospital visits, complications from unmanaged conditions and avoidable readmissions drive higher costs and strain already-burdened systems.
In fact, medication-related issues — including non-adherence — account for more than $500 billion in annual healthcare costs in the U.S. alone. That’s why clinicians, pharmacists, payers and life sciences organizations are aligned in the push to improve adherence — and why AI-driven innovation is essential to making that progress sustainable.
Learn how you can use AllazoHealth, an AssistRx solution, to bolster patient engagement and help more patients start and stay on therapy, improving patient outcomes and enhancing program performance in the process.