New Findings from RTI International in the Area of Managed Care and Specialty Pharmacy Reported (Does Access To Free Medication Reduce Health System Costs? an Evaluation of the Dispensary of Hope Program): Drugs and Therapies – Managed Care and Specialty Pharmacy

2023 APR 18 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Hospital & Nursing Home Daily -- Data detailed on Drugs and Therapies - Managed Care and Specialty Pharmacy have been presented. According to news originating from Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “Cost-related medication nonadherence-when patients fail to take medication as prescribed because of the cost of the medication-has numerous consequences: more hospitalizations, avoidable deaths, and greater health care expenditures. Dispensary of Hope is a charitable medication access program that collects and distributes pharmaceuticals to pharmacies to dispense free of charge to patients with no insurance, low incomes, and chronic conditions.To estimate the differences in medical costs and utilization of hospital patients enrolled in the Dispensary of Hope program relative to those who were not enrolled.”

Financial support for this research came from Dispensary of Hope.

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from RTI International, “We used administrative claims data from 2 health systems participating in Dispensary of Hope to identify those in the program and a comparison group, respectively. Claims data included emergency department (ED) encounters, inpatient encounters, costs, and prescriptions. Health system 1 (HS1) data began July 1, 2016, and ended December 31, 2019; health system 2 (HS2) data ran from March 10, 2014, to December 31, 2019. Program enrollment dates (index dates) were identified via program registration or prescription fills. We propensity score weighted a comparison population from HS1 and HS2, respectively, to match program patient demographic and comorbidity characteristics. We estimated changes in costs, ED visits, inpatient stays, and primary care sensitive ED visits over time between the 2 groups (difference -in-difference) over 18 months preenrollment and postenrollment.HS1 comparison (n = 6,714) and Dispensary of Hope (n = 880) groups were balanced on age, sex, race and ethnicity, and comorbidities; both populations were approximately 46 years old, 43% female, 64% White, with an average of 3.0 comorbidities. The HS2 samples were almost 50 years old and a majority female (56%) and Black (55%). Per-person annual costs at HS1 decreased by $3,161 (P < 0.05) more in the Dispensary of Hope group than in the comparison group from the preenrollment to the postenrollment period. Inpatient stays decreased by 200 stays per 1,000 patients per year (P = 0.02) and ED visits increased by 0.32 (P < 0.01) on a yearly basis relative to the comparison group. Primary care sensitive ED visits increased over the period. No results were statistically significant in HS2.We found substantial reductions in costs and inpatient stays for Dispensary of Hope HS1 participants, and we did not find significant results at HS2. Differences between the health sys-tems or patient populations could explain these varying results.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Our study represents a rigorous, multistate evaluation that highlights the impact of a charitable medication access program on hospital utilization for the medically underserved population.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Does Access To Free Medication Reduce Health System Costs? an Evaluation of the Dispensary of Hope Program. Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy, 2023;29(2):187-196. Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy can be contacted at: Acad Managed Care Pharmacy, 100 N Pitt St, 400, Alexandria, VA 22314-3134, USA.

The news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained from Benjamin T. Allaire, RTI International, Res Triangle Park, NC 27709, United States. Additional authors for this research include Yan Tang, Simon Neuwahl, Olga Khavjou, Hillary Blackburn, Mary Lankford and Christopher Palombo.

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)