Aug 29, 2019
Pharmacy costs keep going up. If you are one of the millions of people taking prescription medication regularly, you know this well. In fact, a study by The National Health Expenditure Accounts Team found that in 2016 a staggering amount near $329 billion was spent on prescription drugs in the U.S. alone. That number is growing year after year. There are many reasons why this amount is so high, but one simple reason seems to glare at us above the others - overmedication. The Epidemic of Overmedication It is a known fact that the elderly are especially at risk of overmedication . Many...
Read MoreFiled Under: elder care, health coach, Health Management, healthcare coach, healthcare quality, Insider, medications, overmedication, polypharmacy, too many pills
Jul 19, 2019
Drug wastage is defined as the portion of a medication bottle, syringe, or vial that is not given to a patient. Drug wastage has been found to contribute at least an additional two percent cost to total spending across all pharmaceutical lines. There are effects not only on patients due to the cost, but also to insurance companies, hospitals and other healthcare centers, and the patient’s or insured’s employers, especially when it is a smaller company. Nursing Home Drug Waste It should come as no surprise that nursing home residents consume a large amount of prescription drugs. It has been shown that 25%...
Read MoreFiled Under: elder care, healthcare quality, medications, overmedication, polypharmacy, preventive healthcare, too many pills
Jul 12, 2019
The pharmaceutical side of oncology and other specialty drugs is a multi-billion dollar business. This is one of the highest cost segments of pharmaceuticals to patients and insurance companies, and it is one of the highest profit areas for the pharmaceutical companies. In 2016, specialty drugs made up 40% of the $450 billion pharmaceutical market, which translates into $180 billion. This staggering amount of money is bad enough in itself, but what if I told you that some of those medications that make up that $180 billion was being wasted in hospitals and other healthcare centers every single day? How Can...
Read MoreFiled Under: cancer drugs cost, cancer treatments, elder care, Health Management, high-cost drugs, medications, overmedication, polypharmacy, Specialty Drugs, understanding insurance
Apr 30, 2019
Opioid Overmedication and DeathsChronic pain is one of the most difficult issues a person can face. Diagnosis with long-term symptoms and side effects such as cancer or degenerative disc disease often lead to increased pain levels over time. This pain can become unbearable either due to intensity or endurance and a person will often look for some type of relief in the form of pain medication. While the dangers of additions are widely known, there is still the possibility for someone to become dependent upon or abuse these medications, particularly those in the opioid family. Because the statistics for overdose...
Read MoreFiled Under: elder care, medications, opioid, overmedication, polypharmacy, too many pills
Apr 29, 2019
I am often asked when am I going to retire? Since I have achieved the age denoted as "senior citizen" it is a fairly legitimate question. Yesterday as I was pondering what I would like to write about in this month's Health Points, I came upon a lead article in the "Wall Street Journal" entitled "The Case Against Early Retirement". To delve into the philosophical - I have often thought there are two phases to later life; and I define them as, "living or waiting to die". As Richard W Johnson states in the opening of the article, "Most people look forward to retirement,...
Read MoreFiled Under: elder care, Mental Health, mental status affects health, retirement, retirement health