SAN DIEGO, April 9 /PRNewswire/ -- A new study presented today at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy’s 22nd Annual Meeting by Prime Therapeutics (Prime), a thought-leader in pharmacy benefit management, provides new evidence to support an easy, low-cost way to help keep patients with chronic conditions on their medications: provide them with a three-month drug supply.(1) With clinical research demonstrating the link between adherence and health outcomes for many chronic diseases, this study has important implications for patients, employers and health insurers seeking better health and decreased overall health care costs.
Chronic disease now accounts for about 75 percent of the more than $2 trillion spent on health care each year in the United States, and these three conditions are among the largest contributors to this growing problem.(2) Today, only about half of all U.S. patients take their medications as prescribed by their physician. Growing clinical research shows that patient adherence with prescribed drug therapy is critical to mitigating the toll these chronic diseases take on Americans’ health and finances.
Previous research has indicated that patients who receive extended supplies of their medication through the mail were more likely to stick with their drug regimens than those who receive their medication from a local retail pharmacy on a monthly basis.(3) It was unclear, however, whether the determining factor was the delivery method (home versus retail) or the extended supply. This new study found that extended supply was the key factor, since there was little difference in adherence rates between patients who received their extended supplies through the mail or from a drug store. In addition, the study followed patients for one-and-a-half years compared with one year or less in previous studies.
The published study abstract can be found in the Journal of Managed Care Pharmacy at http://www.amcp.org/data/jmcp/141-168.pdf.
(2)Orszag, P. Congressional Budget Office Testimony: Growth in Health Care Costs. Delivered before the Committee on the Budget, United States Senate, January 31, 2008. http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/89xx/doc8948/01-31-HealthTestimony.pdf
Prime Therapeutics is a pharmacy benefit management company dedicated to providing innovative, clinically-based, cost-effective pharmacy solutions for clients and members. Providing pharmacy benefit services nationwide to approximately 14.7 million covered lives, its client base includes Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans, employer and union groups, and third-party administrators. Headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota, Prime Therapeutics is collectively owned by 12 Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans, subsidiaries or affiliates of those Plans. Learn more at www.primetherapeutics.com.
CONTACT: Sheila Thelemann, Director, PR and Marketing Communications of
Prime Therapeutics, +1-612-777-5508, sthelemann@primetherapeutics.com
Web site: http://www.primetherapeutics.com/
