Open AccessEvaluation of Hospital-Based Acute Care Utilization by Uninsured Patients Enrolled in Free or Low-Cost Pharmacy Programs
Author(s) -
Jessica Stickel,
Jennifer Kim
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
innovations in pharmacy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2155-0417
DOI - 10.24926/iip.v12i4.3998
Subject(s) - pharmacy , medicine , emergency department , pharmacist , clinical pharmacy , emergency medicine , medication therapy management , health care , family medicine , acute care , patient care , nursing , economics , economic growth
Background: Research is warranted to define the role of affordable pharmacy programs in optimizing healthcare utilization for uninsured patients.Methods: This was a pre-post study including uninsured patients from an internal medicine residency clinic who enrolled in free or low-cost pharmacy programs with clinical pharmacist support.Results: In the period following program enrollment (N=116), there was a mean decrease of 0.23 acute care encounters (hospitalizations and emergency department [ED] visits) per patient (p=0.0210, 95% CI 0.04-0.43). The mean decrease for hospitalizations was also statistically significant (0.17, p=0.0052, 95% CI 0.05-0.28), but the mean decrease for ED visits was not (0.06, p=0.3771, 95% CI -0.08-0.21). Using the national average hospitalization cost of $10,700, the decrease in hospitalizations represents an estimated savings of $246,100.Conclusions: Enrollment in affordable pharmacy programs was found to be associated with decreased acute care encounters.