Express Scripts Study: 89% Of Consumers Don’t Know How Adherent They Are

So much for self-reported data.  In the recent Drug Trend Report by Express Scripts, they mention a study they did looking at patient self-reported adherence and comparing it to actual adherence.  (I can’t believe no one had done this before.)  89% of the consumers incorrectly reported that they were taking the medication as prescribed.  For years, I’ve used two separate studies to point out that this gap had to exist, but it was not done on the same population. 

This is critical to any care manager or anyone else talking to the patient.  If you trust their perspective on adherence, you’re likely overestimating it.  In some cases, this might not be materials, but some of the gaps are significant.  Therefore, integrating pharmacy data to get to a true MPR (medication possession ratio) or PDC (percentage of days covered).