Medication non-adherence brings staggering costs. According to a study from the New England Healthcare Institute, one-third of all patients don't take their medication as prescribed. This non-adherence results in $290 billion of additional medical costs each year, of which $100 billion is medication-related hospitalizations.

People have many reasons for non-adherence—they either forget to take the medication or forget to refill the prescription, don't think they need it, or feel it's too expensive. To further compound the problem, often people think they are taking a drug properly when, in fact, they're not. NEHI research reveals that one-third to one-half of all patients don't take their medication properly.

According to A Report to the U.S. Surgeon General 2011, chronic diseases currently affect 45 percent of the U.S. population, account for 81 percent of all hospital admissions, 91 percent of all prescriptions filled, 76 percent of physician visits, and are the leading causes of death and disability in the U.S.