Comparing Drug Use and Costs in Community vs. Mail Order Pharmacies
Author Information
Author(s): Valluri Satish, Seoane-Vazquez Enrique, Rodriguez-Monguio Rosa, Szeinbach Sheryl L
Primary Institution: The Ohio State University
Hypothesis
Does substituting community pharmacy with mail order pharmacy reduce overall drug expenditures in a Medicaid population?
Conclusion
Mail order pharmacy increases drug utilization and may lead to higher drug product costs if not managed properly.
Supporting Evidence
- Mail order pharmacy resulted in a 5.5% increase in drug utilization.
- A 5.4% cost reduction was required for mail order to become cost neutral compared to community pharmacy.
- Sub-analyses showed similar increases in utilization across different patient groups.
Takeaway
This study looked at how using mail order pharmacies instead of community pharmacies affects how much medicine people use and how much it costs.
Methodology
A retrospective cohort study using a simulation model to compare drug utilization and costs between community and mail order pharmacies.
Potential Biases
Potential selection bias due to the retrospective nature of the study.
Limitations
The study does not account for non-health care costs and assumes equal drug costs between mail order and community pharmacies.
Participant Demographics
{"gender":{"female":65.5,"male":34.5},"average_age":43.1,"ethnicity":{"white":77.5,"black":20.9,"asian":0.6,"other":1.0,"hispanic":1.6}}
Statistical Information
P-Value
p<0.05
Confidence Interval
95%
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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