Pharmacy management strategies for improving drug adherence

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Pharmacy Practice
• Quality Improvement

Background:

• U.S. healthcare faces significant quality gaps and rising costs.
• Nonadherence to prescription medications is a key driver of these issues.
• Managed care quality is impacted by medication nonadherence.

Purpose of the Study:

• Describe quality gaps in managed care linked to medication nonadherence.
• Identify components of successful pharmacy management strategies to combat nonadherence.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of quality gaps in managed care settings.
• Characterization of pharmacy management initiatives.
• Review of organizational efforts (Pharmacy Quality Alliance, National Committee for Quality Assurance) using Medicare Part D as impetus.

Main Results:

• Collaborative pharmacy networks and MTM programs effectively reduce medication nonadherence.
• Pharmacy Quality Alliance is developing quality metrics, data aggregation, and reporting mechanisms.
• National Committee for Quality Assurance has established MTM measures for pharmacy quality monitoring.

Conclusions:

• Pharmacy management initiatives like collaborative networks and MTM are crucial for reducing nonadherence.
• Value-based healthcare necessitates investment in appropriate medication use and nonadherence reduction.
• Addressing nonadherence proactively can mitigate future high costs of treating severe diseases.