NEW ORLEANS — Prescription plans offered by large discount stores could save diabetes patients at least $85 per month in out-of-pocket expenses compared with local chain or independent pharmacies, a cost analysis found.
Previous data suggest that one in every five U.S. patients with diabetes cuts back on medications because of cost. Recently, large retail stores such as Wal-Mart, Target, and Kmart have launched programs that offer generic medications at much lower cost to customers than that of other types of pharmacies.
An analysis of medical and pharmaceutical claims from the PharMetrics patient-centric database on 52 million unique insured patients from 91 U.S. health plans confirms that these programs can save patients a significant amount of money out-of-pocket, Dr. Clifton M. Jackness and Dr. Ronald Tamler reported in a poster at the annual scientific sessions of the American Diabetes Association.
“Doctors and patients should work together to find the best pharmacy that serves their needs, and some smaller pharmacies may be able to compete with Wal-Mart's prices. However, Wal-Mart, Target, and Kmart are full-service pharmacies that answer patient questions, ask about interactions, and keep computerized records on all drugs prescribed through their stores,” Dr. Jackness, an internist at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, said in an interview.
He and Dr. Tamler, an endocrinologist at Mt. Sinai, analyzed claims for the 10 most commonly prescribed medications for all adults younger than age 65 years with a diagnosis of diabetes (ICD-9 code 250) prior to Jan. 1, 2005. (See box.) Rosiglitazone is prescribed less often today, so it was removed and #11, atenolol (47,070 patients) was included in the analysis instead. The average number of medications taken by a patient with diabetes is 8.9, according to the investigators.
Some generic drugs offered by Wal-Mart, Target, and Kmart cost much less than the same drugs sold by other pharmacies, while other medications were similar in price. On the price of nongeneric medications, those three discounters, www.drugstore.com
When added up, the price of all 10 medications was lowest at Medco by Mail ($428.35), not including shipping and handling. Next lowest was Wal-Mart ($432.53), while the highest was a local pharmacy ($639.30).
The superstores and mail-order firms did not always have the lowest price for every medication, but a patient who bought all 10 prescriptions at one of these stores would save a minimum of $85 per month compared with the local chain or independent pharmacy, Dr. Jackness and Dr. Tamler said.
Neither Dr. Jackness nor Dr. Tamler had any disclosures or conflicts of interest. The PharMetrics prescribing data came from Eli Lilly & Co. representatives, but they did not request compensation for that database. There was no funding necessary for the study itself.
Source ELSEVIER GLOBAL MEDICAL NEWS