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Community pharmacy automatic refill program improves adherence to maintenance therapy and reduces wasted medication.
Olga S Matlin, Steven M Kymes1, Alice Averbukh
1CVS/caremark, 2211 Sanders Rd, NBT 326, Northbrook, IL 60062.
The American Journal of Managed Care
|December 4, 2015
Summary
Automatic prescription refill programs improve medication adherence and reduce drug wastage for patients with chronic conditions. This study found higher medication possession ratios and less oversupply in refill programs.
Area of Science:
- Health Services Research
- Pharmacoeconomics
- Medication Adherence
Background:
- Automatic prescription refill programs aim to enhance medication adherence.
- Concerns exist regarding potential prescription drug wastage and increased healthcare costs.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the impact of an automatic prescription refill program on medication use patterns.
- To assess if automatic refills affect medication possession ratio (MPR) and drug oversupply.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective propensity score matched cohort study.
- Analysis of patients receiving 30-day and 90-day supplies from a pharmacy benefit manager.
- Measured medication possession ratio and average days of oversupply across 11 therapeutic classes.
Main Results:
- Automatic refill programs significantly increased MPR for both 30-day (3 points) and 90-day (1.4 points) supplies.
- Members in automatic refill programs showed higher MPR across all therapeutic classes.
- Automatic refills reduced oversupply by 2.5 days for 30-day fills and 2.18 days for 90-day fills.
Conclusions:
- Automatic prescription refill programs improve medication adherence.
- These programs do not lead to increased medication oversupply for this pharmacy provider.
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