Retrospective Analysis of Medication Adherence and Cost Following Medication Therapy Management

• Main Authors: Ashley Branham (Author), Joseph Moose (Author), Stefanie Ferreri (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing, 2010-06-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 10.24926/iip.v1i1.195; 2155-0417
• Keywords: adherence; medication therapy management; comprehensive medication reviews; disease management; chronic disease; Pharmacy and materia medica; RS1-441
• Source: INNOVATIONS in Pharmacy, Vol 1, Iss 1 (2010)

Objective: To determine if pharmacist-provided medication therapy management (MTM) improves medication adherence in Medicare patients. A secondary objective is to compare the total monthly cost of a patient's prescription medication regimen 6 months before and 6 months following a comprehensive medication review (CMR). Design: Retrospective analysis of medication adherence, pre-post comparison. Setting: Three independent pharmacies in North Carolina. Patients: 97 Medicare Part D beneficiaries with one or more chronic disease states who participated in a comprehensive medication review (CMR). Intervention: MTM services provided by community pharmacists. Main outcome measure: Change in adherence as measured by the proportion of days covered (PDC) and change in medication costs for patients and third party payers. Results: Patients were adherent to chronic disease-state medications before and after MTM (PDC≥ 0.8). Overall, change in mean adherence before and after MTM did not change significantly (0.87 and 0.88, respectively; p = 0.43). However, patients taking medications for cholesterol management, GERD, thyroid and BPH demonstrated improved adherence following a CMR. No change in adherence was noted for patients using antihypertensives and antidiabetic agents. Average total chronic disease-state medication costs for participants were reduced from $210.74 to $193.63 (p=0.08) following the comprehensive medication review. Total costs for patient and third party payers decreased from patients prescribed antilipemics, antihypertensives, GERD and thyroid disorders following a CMR. Conclusions: Pharmacist-provided MTM services were effective at improving medication adherence for some patients managed with chronic medications. Pharmacist-provided MTM services also were effective in decreasing total medication costs. Type: Original Research