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Tablets & Capsules May 2017 13 than any other. See figures 4 to 6, which detail actual spending in 2010. These numbers are important, because they reveal the biggest opportunity for healthcare savings available to this administration or any other. The costs associated with chronic conditions sky- rocket when they're left untreated. Hypertension, for example, when left untreated could lead to a stroke. If so, the $1 to $2 per day it costs to treat hypertension—and possibly prevent a stroke—could became a yearly expense of $100,000 or more to provide convalescent care to the person who suffered the calamity. Begin with blisters There are many ideas about how to address the prob- lem of cost and adherence among those with chronic conditions. But the simplest and easiest, at least to start, is to use packaging technologies that make it simple for patients to take their medications as prescribed. A good first step: Increase the use of blister packaging combined with custom labeling so it's clear to people when and how to take their medications. It's not unusual for seniors to have several pharmacy bottles on the kitchen table or countertop to remind them to take their medications. But many times, seniors forget whether they took their medication, just as all of us from time to time think we've done something that we haven't or vice versa. Using blister packaging with enough space to accommo- date the dose and a date code may be a simple way to fix this. Female hormone replacements—birth control tablets—use packaging that enables people to start taking their tablets any day of the month. Because the blister card indicates how many tablets you've taken, you know at a glance whether you took your meds that day. Let's adapt this package for drug products that treat chronic conditions. Increasing the use of blister packaging is not a far- fetched idea. Most products used outside the USA are Figure 6 US healthcare spending associated with percentage of population by number of chronic conditions in 2010 Percentage of Americans with multiple chronic conditions Percentage of total US healthcare spending by number of chronic conditions 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% 0 CC 1 CC 2 CC 3 CC 4 CC 5+CC Coperion K-Tron is proud to be a Valued Supplier: YOUR BENEFITS > High accuracy feeders for optimal ingredient delivery > Innovative sanitary and hygienic pneumatic conveying solutions > ZSK twin screw extruders suitable for the continuous production of pharmaceutical compounds > Integrated systems controls for all operations > All systems designed with advanced pharmaceutical-grade engineering >>Accuracy at every process step. Feeding, weighing, conveying and extrusion systems provided by Coperion and Coperion K-Tron o er the highest in e ciency and reliability to ensure the optimum in product e cacy. >>www.coperion-pharma.com >extruders >feeders >components >pneumatic conveying >complete systems