For Immediate Release — Friday, May 15, 2009
WilsonRx® reports diabetes households fastest growing among medical conditions while satisfaction with therapy shows steady decline.
NEW HOPE, PA – May 15, 2009 - WilsonRx®, a leading healthcare consumer insight firm independently reported as the “Gold Standard” in Healthcare Research, finds in its latest study of 34,454 household healthcare decision making consumers that 25.7% of households have at least one member with diabetes, an increase from 15.8% of households surveyed in 2001. In addition, diabetes households filled 44% more prescriptions in the past year than non diabetes households. Further adding to the expense of treating diabetes, the study shows that diabetes households have higher utilization of health care services including visits to primary care and specialist physicians, hospital admissions, outpatient visits and pharmacy visits.
Yet, despite the increasing treatment prevalence and availability of more treatments, only one out of three patients feels very well in control of their diabetes. “Unfortunately, we found in our most recent annual survey that 26% of diabetes households did not refill all of their prescriptions and 70% report that they did not take their medications as prescribed” said third generation pharmacist, Jim Wilson, President of Wilson Health Information. “Not only are diabetes patients in poorer health, have more co-morbidities and take more medications, they are less likely to have prescription drug coverage and be compliant with their treatment regimens” added Wilson. Between 2004 and 2008 there has been a steady decline in the overall treatment satisfaction reported. “These findings suggest that despite the availability of more advanced therapies for diabetes, there continues to be a lack of adequate health insurance coverage and coverage of prescription medications and testing supplies”, said Wilson.
Figure1 – Number of Different medicines filled or refilled in the past year per diabetes household
A comprehensive in-depth follow-up custom survey to 1,290 households with a diabetes patient reveals important facts for all companies involved in providing products or blood testing systems for diabetes patient care.
- The average diabetes patient reported that they had received treatment for an average of 7.8 years, which means that a long term commitment to care is essential;
- Over 6 workdays are lost per year due to diabetes, therefore, employers should look into programs that can keep their employees with diabetes healthy, even if it means paying more for prescription medications and counseling;
- Most patents reported that they had no symptoms (40%) when they were diagnosed with Diabetes and that the most common symptoms reported were an increase in thirst (35%), urination (32%) and fatigue (28%).
- Diabetes patients reported that they discussed a variety of topics with their doctor and healthcare professionals including the need for regular blood pressure testing, diet, exercise, eye exams and foot exams. This means that a coordinated team of caregivers are essential in providing a satisfying treatment experience.
- While 7 out of 10 diabetes patients had received a Hemoglobin A1C test in the past year, only about half of patients said that they had a diabetes treatment training class.
The survey report compares patient satisfaction among the various brands of insulin, oral treatment, meters and strips/lancets as well as reasons for switching therapies.
WilsonRx® Treatment Satisfaction Reports™ contain meaningful analyses of more than 300 survey topics, including demographics, utilization, and satisfaction with Health Insurance, Pharmacy Benefit Manager and Pharmacy. Medical Condition Treatment Satisfaction Reports are available for over 50 medical conditions.
To purchase the report or for more information, contact: Aubrey McWatt at 215-345-5469 (email aubrey@wilsonrx.com) - Jim Granato at 908- 693-6069 (jrgranato@wilsonrx.com) or Jim Wilson at 215-862-4581 or email jim@wilsonrx.com, or visit www.wilsonrx.com.
THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE USED FOR PROMOTIONAL PURPOSES WITHOUT EXPRESS WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM WILSON HEALTH INFORMATION, LLC (WilsonRx®)
© 2009 Wilson Health Information, LLC • All Rights Reserved.
