Patient Adherence with HMG Reductase Inhibitor Therapy among Users of Two Types of Prescription Services

METHODS: This study was a retrospective database analysis of pharmacy and medical claims for 14,826 commercial (40.9%) and Medicare+Choice (59.1%) members of a large HMO in California who were newly started on HMG therapy during the identification period, continuously enrolled during the review period (defined as each member’s 6-month pre-index period through 360 days of follow-up), and between 18 and 75 years of age. Members who exclusively used only the mail-service pharmacy for HMG prescriptions were compared to members who used only community pharmacies for HMG prescriptions. The main outcome measures were adherence, medication possession ratio (MPR), persistence, prescription count, and duration of therapy. RESULTS: All outcome measures were significantly greater for the mail-service cohort than for the community pharmacy cohort (p<0.0001). CONCLUSION: This analysis suggests that patients who use mail-service systems to fill prescriptions exhibit a higher degree of adherence with HMG therapy compared to those who use community pharmacies.