WOONSOCKET, R.I., Aug. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- A new study
from the CVS Health Research Institute found that interventions to
keep patients with common chronic conditions adherent is
extraordinarily cost-effective. The study, published today in
The American Journal of Managed Care, also found an even
greater opportunity for cost-savings if medication adherence
resources are focused on patients with three or more chronic
co-morbidities, such as hypertension, diabetes and high
cholesterol. In fact, a preliminary analysis shows that payers
could save approximately $38-$63
million per 100,000 members by focusing resources on these
specific patient populations.
"There is extensive evidence supporting the relationship between
better adherence, improved health outcomes and reduced health care
costs, but efforts to improve medication adherence, while
effective, can be costly," said Troyen A. Brennan, M.D., Chief
Medical Officer of CVS Health. "We are now trying to better
understand how to maximize health care resources to have the
greatest impact on adherence and provide the maximum benefit for
payers and patients. This research indicates that targeting
adherence interventions to patients based upon their adherence
history and co-morbidities would result in greater cost-savings and
a better use of health care resources."
Researchers reviewed de-identified medical and pharmacy claims
data of more than 1.2 million patients with at least one of three
chronic diseases, including diabetes, hypertension and high
cholesterol, over a two year period. The study found that the best
strategy was to focus on the patients who are adherent and keep
them adherent. For example, a patient with hypertension who was
initially adherent, but became non-adherent, spent an additional
$2,663 on medical care. In addition,
the researchers found that the number of co-morbid conditions
directly influenced the magnitude of cost savings when adherence
behavior improved. In fact, patients with three or more chronic
conditions had up to seven times greater savings than patients with
one or two conditions.
"Short-term changes in adherence can have a meaningful and
immediate impact on health care costs, and this kind of research is
important in helping our clients understand the value of medication
adherence and where the greatest cost-savings opportunities exist
for their member populations when it comes to maintaining
medication adherence," said Jonathan
Roberts, President of CVS Caremark, the pharmacy benefits
manager (PBM) of CVS Health. "We have a number of analytic tools
that we use with our clients and offer adherence programs tailored
for specific member populations to help improve health outcomes and
deliver significant value for our clients."
At CVS Health, we leverage our analytic expertise across the
enterprise to help PBM clients tailor and implement adherence
interventions that have the greatest impact. For example, we use
predictive analytics to help understand which patients are likely
to be non-adherent and as a result, the most costly. In addition,
we work with clients to target certain member populations who can
most benefit from our adherence programs. In fact, we recently
launched Care 1-on-1®, which connects members with multiple chronic
conditions to a dedicated Pharmacy Care Team who is available 24/7
to support individual member needs, coordinate medication delivery
and address their adherence challenges.
The CVS Health Research Institute is focused on contributing to
the body of scientific knowledge related to pharmacy and health
care through research collaborations with external academic
institutions, participation in federally-funded research, analysis
and sharing of CVS Health data sources and coordination of pilot
programs and initiatives. CVS Health Research Institute findings
support a continuous quality improvement environment, which
encourages product innovation and development to benefit CVS Health
patients, clients and their members.
About CVS Health
CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) is a pharmacy
innovation company helping people on their path to better health.
Through its more than 9,600 retail pharmacies, more than 1,100
walk-in medical clinics, a leading pharmacy benefits manager with
nearly 80 million plan members, a dedicated senior pharmacy care
business serving more than one million patients per year, and
expanding specialty pharmacy services, the Company enables people,
businesses and communities to manage health in more affordable and
effective ways. This unique integrated model increases access to
quality care, delivers better health outcomes and lowers overall
health care costs. Find more information about how CVS Health is
shaping the future of health at https://www.cvshealth.com.
Media Contacts:
Christine
Cramer
CVS
Health
(401)
770-3317
christine.cramer@cvshealth.com
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SOURCE CVS Health