Many studies have reported institutional changes in costs following changes in adherence rates. Some studies have shown that initial investments in interventions to enhance adherence are fully recovered within a few years and recurrent costs are fully covered by savings. These "cost-saving interventions" are firmly linked to the prevention of disease relapses, crises and/or complications.

From a societal point of view, most interventions aimed at enhancing adherence have been shown to result in cost-savings, due to the improvement in patients' quality of life, indirect costs avoided and increased productivity. Such savings are not reflected in economic studies with an institutional perspective.