Counseling sessions with community pharmacist lead to better medication adherence

A new Walgreens (NYSE: WAG)(NASDAQ: WAG) study has found that patients starting high cholesterol (statin) medication for the first time who participated in enhanced face-to-face counseling sessions with a community pharmacist demonstrated better medication adherence than those that did not participate in the sessions. Non-adherence is an especially important issue for high cholesterol patients, as it places them at a greater risk of complications from heart disease. The study, titled The impact of pharmacist face-to-face counseling to improve medication adherence among patients initiating statin therapy, was published in April in the online journal, Patient Preference and Adherence.

“This study demonstrates the power of face-to-face pharmacist interactions”

"This study demonstrates the power of face-to-face pharmacist interactions," said Jeff Kang, MD, Walgreens senior vice president of health and wellness services and solutions. "Just two sessions focused on barriers to adherence for patients taking a new medicine for high cholesterol helped them establish a routine for adhering to their treatment. As a result, these patients potentially improved their long-term health outcomes. At Walgreens, our goal is to help our patients stay well while reducing overall health care costs and programs that address the significant issue of prescription medication non-adherence are a crucial element of this."

To conduct the study, a group of more than 2,000 patients new to statin therapy were followed for 12 months. After inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied, the intervention group consisted of 586 patients, and the comparison group comprised 516 patients. Pharmacists trained in brief motivational interviewing conducted counseling sessions that addressed barriers to adherence for statin patients, such as perceptions of the value of the therapy, fear of side effects and simple forgetfulness or establishing a routine to take medication.

Outcomes were measured using three metrics evaluating adherence: continuous medication possession ratio (MPR), categorical MPR and medication persistency. The study found that at 12 months the intervention group had significantly greater adherence than the comparison group.

• The intervention group had an average adherence of 61.8 percent and the comparison group had 56.9 percent (a 4.9 percentage point improvement).
• 40.9 percent of the intervention group and only 33.7 percent of comparison group achieved the clinically important 80 percent adherence (a 7.2 percentage point improvement).
• 43.9 percent of the intervention group and 38.2 percent of comparison group continued taking their statin medication (a 5.7 percentage point improvement).

Previous research demonstrates that non-adherence with physician-prescribed medication treatment programs has a significantly negative impact on patient outcomes and overall health care costs. Only 25 to 30 percent of medications are taken properly, and only 15 to 20 percent are refilled as prescribed. Eleven percent of hospital admissions and 40 percent of nursing home admissions are attributable to medication non-adherence, which has been estimated to cost the U.S. health care system $290 billion annually, including $100 billion in avoidable hospitalizations alone. As the number of Americans taking prescription drugs and the prevalence of chronic conditions grows, reducing non-adherence has increasingly become an important focus for health plan sponsors.