PBM finds generic drug use increasing
PBM finds generic drug use increasing
Slows overall prescription drug spending
Growth in prescription drug spending for the first quarter of 2003 slowed in part to increased usage of generic drugs, says pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts of St. Louis.
Express Scripts, which serves more than 50 million consumers, says that greater use of generic drugs reduced the dollar outlay for prescription drugs by 3.2% during the first quarter and, for all of 2002, by 2.1%. During the first quarter 2003, 47% of all prescription claims processed by Express Scripts were for generic drugs, up from 43% a year earlier.
"Several factors led to higher generic usage: Several heavily used brand products lost patent protection, opening the door for generic competition, and more plan sponsors implemented mandatory or restricted generic programs and/or step therapy programs," says Fred Teitelbaum, PhD, Express Scripts’ vice president of research and planning.
The "cost-reducing effect of expanding generic drug use will continue to help make prescription drugs much more affordable for years to come," says Express Scripts CEO Barrett Toan.
The cost-saving potential of generics is critical because some drugs are expected to sustain increased utilization, Toan says. For example, the utilization of medications for blood pressure (10.6%), high cholesterol (14.1%), and diabetes (14.5%) increased at double-digit rates.
"The upward trend for these classes was in line with previous increases, reflecting the aging population and increasing diagnosis and treatment of these conditions," Teitelbaum says.
Express Scripts also conducted a study of physician response to safety warnings. Researchers followed up with physicians, from two regional health plans serving about 1.5 million members, who had received 12,000 letters alerting them to a potential safety hazard between April 1 and Aug. 31, 2002. The majority of warnings were for probable drug-drug interactions.
The study found that 38% of the physicians said they changed or modified their patient’s therapy as a result of the information. "We were pleased to learn that when safety information is provided directly to physicians, such a high percentage responded by saying they had changed or modified therapy," Teitelbaum says.
Sending warning letters to physicians after a prescription has been filled supplements Express Scripts’ concurrent drug utilization review program, which is the real-time delivery of warnings to pharmacists at the time a prescription is filled.
Last year, the company sent an estimated 33 million safety warnings to pharmacists — about 10% of the 355 million retail prescription claims processed by the company. For nearly 600,000 of the warnings, the pharmacist changed or withdrew the prescription claim. Most warnings were for therapeutic duplication, drug-age warning, drug-drug interaction, high-dose warning, pregnancy warning, ingredient duplication, gender contraindication, and drug-disease interaction. Teitelbaum says Express Scripts is studying the pharmacist response further.
Growth in prescription drug spending for the first quarter of 2003 slowed in part to increased usage of generic drugs, says pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts of St. Louis.Subscribe Now for Access
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