Research presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) Annual Scientific Meeting shows that an intervention to reduce over-dispensing and waste of asthma medications can succeed without compromising patient safety and can result in substantial cost savings.
Medco Health Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: MHS) today released results of a study that examined the effectiveness and safety of a pharmacist-initiated intervention with physicians designed to reduce the over-dispensing of asthmatic rescue inhalers. While rescue inhalers are effective in relieving acute asthma attacks, national guidelines warn against their daily, long-term use. The study revealed that when physicians were provided with educational materials and a series of follow up communications outreach that included information about the consequences of excessive use of rescue inhalers (more than 1 inhaler per month) and required a response from the physician before the new prescription would be dispensed, the number of new prescriptions written for excessive quantities of inhalers dropped by 60 percent.
The study also found that as a result of the intervention, 200,000 fewer inhalers were used over a one-year period (July 2007 through June 2008) by 250,000 asthma patients identified as being prescribed excessive quantities of rescue inhalers. The adjusted savings from this reduction amounted to $4.2 million.