Michael Taitel|Leonard Fensterheim|Heather Kirkham|Ryan Sekula|Ian Duncan
Medication Days’ Supply, Adherence, Wastage, and Cost Among Chronic Patients in Medicaid
Walgreens (United States)|Walgreens (United States)|Walgreens (United States)|Walgreens (United States)|Walgreens (United States)
backgroundin attempt contain medicaid pharmacy costs nearly states impose dispensing limits medication days supplyalthough longer days supply appears increase potential medication wastage previous studies suggest may also decrease pharmacy expenditures reducing dispensing fees drug ingredient coststhis study conducted determine whether 90day refills community pharmacies could improve adherence minimize wastage control costs methodsthis retrospective observational study used california medicaid claims walgreens pharmacy chain dated january 2010 identify 52898 patients prescribed statin antihypertensive selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor ssri oral hypoglycemic medicationsadherence measured medication possession ratio mpr persistency 30day gapmedication wastage defined switch drug drug strength within therapeutic class occurred expected refill date resultsadherence 20 higher persistency 23 higher 90day group 30day groupthis amounted average increase 014 mpr 44 days continuous therapythe two groups comparable proportions patients wastageafter subtracting average wastage cost 734 per person per year pppy therapeutic classes pppy savings statins 770 antihypertensives 1080ssris 1852 oral hypoglycemics 2686 conclusionacross four drug categories compared 30day refills patients 90day refills greater medication adherence greater persistency nominal wastage greater savings