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Association between prescription drug benefit and hospital readmission rates
Laura Challen1, Christine Kelso2, Bhumi Gandhi3
1Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacy Practice, St. Louis College of Pharmacy , St. Louis, Missouri.
Insights
Patients with prescription drug benefits had more hospital readmissions than those without, though the difference was not statistically significant. Further research is needed to clarify the relationship between prescription benefits and hospital readmission rates.
Area of Science:
- Health Services Research
- Pharmacy Practice
- Health Economics
Background:
- Hospital readmissions represent a significant burden on healthcare systems.
- Prescription drug benefits may influence patient adherence to medication and subsequent health outcomes.
- Understanding the association between prescription drug coverage and readmission rates is crucial for healthcare policy.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between prescription drug benefits and hospital readmission rates among primary care medicine clinic patients.
- To determine if having prescription drug benefits impacts the frequency or duration of hospital readmissions.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective, single-center cohort study.
- Inclusion of primary care medicine clinic patients with at least one hospital readmission in 2011.
- Stratification of patients into two groups: those with and without prescription drug benefits.
Main Results:
- Patients with prescription drug benefits experienced a higher number of hospital readmissions compared to those without (2.45 vs. 1.88).
- The length of index admissions and readmissions was longer for patients without prescription drug benefits, though not statistically significant.
- Patients with prescription drug benefits had a higher number of readmissions across most Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) score categories.
Conclusions:
- While not statistically significant, patients with prescription drug benefits showed a trend towards more hospital readmissions.
- Patients with prescription drug benefits experienced shorter hospital lengths of stay.
- Future studies are needed to establish a statistically significant link between prescription insurance benefits and hospital readmissions to guide healthcare systems.
Purpose:
To determine whether primary care medicine clinic (PCMC) patients with a prescription drug benefit were associated with a lower rate of hospital readmissions.
Methods:
This study was a retrospective, single-center, cohort study of PCMC patients who had at least 1 hospital readmission in 2011. Eligible patients were divided into 2 groups: patients without prescription drug benefits and patients with prescription drug benefits.
Results:
Three hundred fifty-two patients met our inclusion criteria. The number of hospital readmissions for patients with a prescription drug benefit was higher than those with no prescription drug benefit (2.453 ± 2.49 vs 1.88 ± 1.91; P = .052). The length of index admission and the length of hospital readmission in days were higher in patients with no prescription drug benefits (index admission, 5.29 ± 6.38 vs 4.59 ± 4.50; P = .428) (readmission, 5.31 ± 5.90 vs 4.48 ± 4.33, P = .166). The number of days to readmission was higher in those with drug benefits (58.12 ± 63.54 vs 53.39 ± 53.47; P = .316). When patient data were separated by CCI scores, it was noted that patients with pharmacy benefits had significantly more hospital readmissions in each CCI score category except for patients with a CCI of 6.
Conclusion:
Although not statistically significant, patients with prescription drug benefits had more hospital readmissions but shorter hospital lengths of stay. Significant data linking hospital readmissions and prescription insurance benefits, if found in future studies, would provide helpful guidance to health care systems.
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