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Benefits Of Blister Packaging
Pharmaceuticals become more complex each day, requiring more efficient delivery methods to ensure that patients are indeed compliant with their medication therapies. This is where the benefits of blister packing come into play. Most independent pharmacies offer the blister packing service to ease the use of medications and assist patients who are on multiple medication therapies, including over-the-counter medications-that they may better remember when and how to take their medications.
With blister packaging, each medication is comfortably fitted in its own plastic bubble known as the blister or “push through pack.” The medication is sealed between a cardboard backing and plastic bubble sheet, with labeled directions for each day and hour the patient must take the medication.
Blister packing medications offers a variety of benefits to patients, including reducing accidental misuse of medications, creating better medication compliance and patient adherence, and protection of the medication from adverse environmental factors-such as moisture, degradation, and contamination. The blister packs are portable, inexpensive, and are available in a variety of sizes, which are custom fit for each patient's needs.
The Healthcare Compliance Packaging Council, a non-profit organization which educates patients and healthcare providers on the role of blister packing, or unit dose packaging, for pharmaceutical compliance, found that out of the total 4 billion prescriptions given each year to patients, only about half are taken correctly. 10-25% of all hospital and nursing home admissions are due to pharmaceutical non-compliance–the cost associated with this incorrect medication usage nearing 300 billion dollars annually. Additionally, an estimated 125,000 people in the United States die each year simply because they are not taking their medications as prescribed. This data is alarming, making the role of blister packaging, in addition to closer monitoring by the pharmacist and solid communication between patients and their pharmacists, even more critical.
While blister packaging is beneficial for patients of all ages, most patients who utilize this service are those who are on several medications at once, older patients, and those in nursing homes or assisted living facilities. Prices for this service vary on customization, and needs. Patients usually get their blister packages on a monthly basis, and can opt to have it delivered or mailed to them. It is an inexpensive service that encourages patients to better understand and correctly use their medications, for optimal health outcomes.
