Cost of heart failure drugs impacts medication adherence
In a new study published ahead of print on the Mayo Clinic Proceedings website, researchers demonstrated that the cost of medications was a factor influencing the proportion of patients with heart failure who had poor medication adherence to beta-blockers, angiotensin converting-enzyme inhibitors or receptor blockers, and statins.
Key Points
In a new study published ahead of print on the Mayo Clinic Proceedings website, researchers demonstrated that the cost of medications was a factor influencing the proportion of patients with heart failure who had poor medication adherence to beta-blockers, angiotensin converting-enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) or receptor blockers (ARBs), and statins.
To evaluate medication use and adherence in a community-based heart failure cohort, researchers used electronic medical records to prospectively identify patients with heart failure from a population of Olmsted County, Minn., residents. Patients provided authorization to obtain pharmacy records from all pharmacies where they had refilled medications in the past 2 years, and responded to questionnaires to assess global medication adherence and the effect of the cost of medication on adherence. Medication adherence was determined for each medication class, and was calculated as the proportion of days covered (PDC). Poor adherence was defined as a PDC <80%.
Ultimately, researchers studied 245 patients with New York Heart Association (NYHA) class I to IV heart failure. The proportion of patients with heart failure who had a PDC <80% to beta-blockers, ACEIs/ARBs, and statins was 19%, 19%, and 13%, respectively.
Researchers also found that those with poor adherence expressed more cost-related medication issues. They highlighted statin use noting, "those who adhered poorly to statin therapy more frequently reported stopping a prescription because of cost than those with good adherence (46% vs 6%; P<.001), skipping doses to save money (23% vs 3%; P=.03), and not filling a new prescription because of cost (46% vs 6%; P<.001)."
SOURCES
Dunlay SM, Eveleth JM, Shah ND, McNallan SM, Roger VL. Medication adherence among community-dwelling patients with heart failure. Mayo Clin Proc. 2011 Mar 9. [Epub ahead of print].
American Heart Association. Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics – 2009 Update. Dallas, Texas: American Heart Association; 2009. Available at: http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3037327/. Accessed March 31, 2011.
David Calabrese of OptumRx Talks Top Three Drugs in Pipeline, Industry Trends in Q2
July 1st 2020In this week's episode of Tuning Into The C-Suite podcast, MHE's Briana Contreras chatted with David Calabrese, R.Ph, MHP, who is senior vice president and chief pharmacy officer of pharmacy care services company, OptumRx. David is also a member of Managed Healthcare Executives’ Editorial Advisory Board. During the discussion, he shared the OptumRx Quarter 2 Drug Pipeline Insights Report of 2020. Some of the information shared includes the three notable drugs currently being reviewed or those that have been recently approved by the FDA. Also discussed were any interesting industry trends to watch for.
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