Medco collaborates with Illinois to close gap on medication adherence issues
CHICAGO Fifty-four percent of Americans don’t adhere to their medication regimens, according to a national survey released earlier this year, but a new study will look for ways to close the gap.
The 26-week study is meant to determine the effectiveness of training community pharmacies by using a networked safety system to identify medication-related problems among state employees in Illinois, with the goal of improving health outcomes and lowering costs, with a focus on patients with pulmonary, cardiovascular and neural diseases and diabetes.
Participants in the study include the Illinois state government, pharmacy benefit manager Medco Health Solutions, the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy, the Illinois Pharmacists Association and Mirixa Corp., part of the National Community Pharmacists Association.
“This large-scale study tests, under actual field conditions, several vital aspects of real healthcare reform,” Medco president and COO Kenny Klepper stated. “It transforms traditional competitors into collaborators, creates a partnership across private business, public employers and research institutions and leverages advanced technology using evidence-based protocols to efficiently identify and effectively close gaps in care for patients who are suffering chronic and complex conditions – patients who account for 96% of all drug costs and 75% of all medical spending.”
The UIC College of Pharmacy will provide clinical training and guidance to up to 100 community pharmacists on how to identify and address adherence problems. Meanwhile, Medco will analyze prescription drug records on a daily basis to identify patients who have potential problems with medication adherence. It will then transmit electronic alerts through MirixaPro in real time via a secured, wired system to the pharmacists.
“Medco research revealed more than 25,000 of our state employees and their dependents with chronic or complex conditions may not be taking all the medicines they need to stay healthy or following their doctor’s instructions,” Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn said. “Medicines that aren’t taken can’t be effective, placing our employees’ health at risk and unnecessarily burdening Illinois taxpayers with higher medical costs. I am proud that we are leading the country in an organized effort to prove that innovation, collaboration and clinical excellence drives true healthcare reform by delivering better health outcomes at lower costs.”