Economic Conditions Signal Long-Term Shift in Rx Benefi...(n addressing the growing problem of chro...),Health

Date:9/14/2009

n addressing the growing problem of chronic disease, plan sponsors are increasingly looking to integrate pharmacy and medical data to help improve health and financial outcomes. In fact, 80 percent of organizations plan to integrate drug and medical data, while 73 percent intend to add clinical management programs to their pharmacy benefit to help increase patient safety and control plan costs.

"Integrating both medical and prescription claims data is a key strategy in helping to control costs related to chronic and complex conditions," said Mike Romanzo, R.Ph., President of Medco's Systemed Group. "It facilitates identifying medication adherence and safety issues. Pharmacists can then counsel patients to reduce the chances of more serious health problems and additional costs."

Additional survey highlights include:

• Specialty SOS - For the second year in a row, specialty medications are seen as the leading driver of prescription drug costs, and 83 percent of plan sponsors support quick legislative action to bring generic versions of specialty drugs to market. More than 75 percent of plan sponsors have found some relief through reduced prices by billing these drugs under the pharmacy benefit instead of the medical benefit.
• Mail order improves adherence - Seventy percent of plan sponsors believe that mail-order pharmacies help members stick to essential drug therapies and nearly half believe that mail-order pharmacists do a better job at identifying adherence problems. Increased medication adherence results in better health outcomes and lower overall healthcare costs. For example, a recent Medco study found that annual healthcare costs for hypertensive patients using mail order saw a $700 per-patient reduction due to increased adherence to prescribed drug therapy.
• Low-cost retail generics programs fall short - While there is unanimous agreement that gene
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SOURCE Medco Health Solutions, Inc. Copyright©2009 PR Newswire. All rights reserved

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