Pursuing Pharmacoequity: Determinants, Drivers, and Pathways to Progress.

Area of Science:

• Health Policy
• Health Disparities
• Pharmacotherapy Access

Background:

• The US faces the highest medical care costs globally, with significant inequities in prescription drug access.
• Underrepresented racial and ethnic groups disproportionately bear the burden of high medical costs and unequal access to evidence-based medication therapy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To highlight the urgent need for prioritizing pharmacoequity.
• To examine the social policy, research infrastructure, patient/prescriber characteristics, and health policy determinants of inequitable medication access.
• To identify drivers of ongoing inequities in prescription drug access and propose a framework for achieving pharmacoequity.

Main Methods:

• The authors describe determinants of inequitable medication access.
• Identification of key drivers contributing to disparities in prescription drug access.
• Development of a framework to guide the pursuit of pharmacoequity.

Main Results:

• Inequitable distribution of medical care costs, particularly for prescription drugs, exists in the US.
• Significant disparities in access to high-quality pharmacotherapy affect underrepresented racial and ethnic groups.
• Several factors across social policy, research, and health policy contribute to these inequities.

Conclusions:

• Prioritizing pharmacoequity is an urgent imperative to address systemic inequities in medication access.
• A comprehensive approach examining multiple determinants is necessary to achieve equitable pharmacotherapy for all patients.
• The proposed framework offers a roadmap for advancing health equity in medication access.