Here’s something interesting….more than half of all prescriptions that are handed out to patients are never filled. I read a story in the WSJ this week that contained several ideas about how to remedy this problem, that makes drug companies and doctors unhappy. It’s behavioral economics. The story by Michael Sanserino described a Cambridge MA start-up called Vitality, Inc. They make a cap for prescription bottles called ‘GlowCap,’ which uses lights and sounds as reminders for its owners to open it up and consume the pills inside.
The caps also contain a radio transmitter that sends email to doctors, relatives and others about how often it is opened. Behavioral psychologists say that people do care about what others think…and how they act is deeply affected by others.
Another way to make people take their meds is to bring the pills right to their doorsteps. Lowe’s the big home improvement store chain, worked with Express Scripts on such a program, and saw the use of its home delivery service climb from 14-42% of eligible employees.
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