Research & Consumerology

A Comparison of Diabetes Medication Adherence and
Healthcare Costs in Patients Using Mail Order Pharmacy
and Retail Pharmacy

Published: March 29, 2010
By: Devine ST, Vlahiotis A, Sundar H. Journal of Medical Economics 2010; E-publication ahead of print.

ST. LOUIS – The objective of this study was to determine if there is a difference in long‐term medication adherence in patients on diabetes medications who switched to mail-order pharmacy and to determine if patients who made this switch have lower long‐term healthcare costs.

Researchers used a long-term observational cohort study of MarketScan^® Commercial Claims and Encounters (MCCE) data from January 1, 2005, through December 31, 2007. The final cohort included 14,600 individuals who switched to mail order pharmacy after at least six months in retail pharmacy, and 43,800 patients who remained in retail pharmacy for at least 18 months. After adjusting for measured confounders of medication adherence and initial retail claim period, patients who switched to mail-order pharmacy services had greater adherence to their diabetes medication at the end of their follow‐up, and patients who switched to mail-order pharmacy services trended lower in both total and diabetes related healthcare and medical costs. To learn more about this research, view the abstract in the Journal of Medical Economics.