Journal of managed care & specialty pharmacy
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J Manag Care Spec Pharm · May 2016
Medication Nonadherence Among Medicare Beneficiaries with Comorbid Chronic Conditions: Influence of Pharmacy Dispensing Channel.
Taking medications as prescribed is imperative for their effectiveness. In populations such as Medicare, where two thirds of Medicare beneficiaries have at least 2 or more chronic conditions requiring treatment with medications and account for more than 90% of Medicare health care spend, examining ways to improve medication adherence in patients with comorbidities is warranted. ⋯ Funding for this study was provided internally by Express Scripts Holding Company. Iyengar, LeFrancois, Henderson, and Rabbitt are employees of Express Scripts. Study concept and design were created by Iyengar and LeFrancois. Iyengar was responsible for acquisition of data, statistical analysis, and interpretation of data. The manuscript was written by Iyengar and LeFrancois and revised by all the authors.
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J Manag Care Spec Pharm · May 2016
A Multichannel Medication Adherence Intervention Influences Patient and Prescriber Behavior.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Medicare Health Plan Quality and Performance Ratings program, or Star Ratings program, includes 3 medication adherence outcome measures (Medication Adherence for Diabetes Medications, Medication Adherence for Hypertension, and Medication Adherence for Cholesterol), which contribute to approximately 31% of a Medicare Advantage prescription drug (MA-PD) plan's Part D summary rating and 12% of its overall star rating (a weighted summary of a plan's Part C and Part D ratings). MA-PD plans have been increasing their adherence intervention efforts as an approach to improving beneficiaries' medication adherence and the plan's quality performance ratings. However, few evaluations have examined the effects of these interventions on medication adherence and performance ratings. ⋯ No funding was received in return for conducting this research. Leslie is an employee of MedImpact Healthcare Systems. The authors report no conflicts of interest. Study concept was developed primarily by Leslie, along with Gilmer. Leslie took the lead in data collection, while data interpretation was performed by Leslie, Natarajan, and Gilmer. The manuscript was written primarily by Leslie, along with Gilmer and assisted by Hovell. Leslie, Gilmer, and Hovell revised the manuscript, with assistance from Natarajan.
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J Manag Care Spec Pharm · May 2016
Medication Adherence and Persistence in Patients with Severe Major Depressive Disorder with Psychotic Features: Antidepressant and Second-Generation Antipsychotic Therapy Versus Antidepressant Monotherapy.
Major depressive disorder with psychotic features, or psychotic depression, is a severe mental health disorder often associated with a worse depression-related symptom profile when compared with major depressive disorder without psychotic features. While combination pharmacotherapy with an antidepressant and an antipsychotic is recommended as first-line therapy, antidepressant monotherapy has been found to be useful and efficacious in psychotic depression. ⋯ Kim-Romo received funding to conduct this study from the PhRMA Foundation Pre-Doctoral Fellowship in Health Outcomes. Rascati, Richards, Ford, Wilson, and Beretvas declare no conflict of interest in relation to this manuscript. Kim-Romo and Rascati collaborated on the study design, data analysis, study interpretation, and writing of this manuscript. Richards, Ford, Wilson, and Beretvas provided critical evaluation of the study design, analysis, and interpretation, as well as edited this manuscript.