Patients and Their Meds
This is from a CVS Caremark study of patients with chronic heart disease:
During a three-month period, patients filled prescriptions for an average of 11 medications representing an average of six different drug classes, the researchers said. “More striking, during this 90-day time frame, 10 percent of these patients filled prescriptions for 23 or more medications . . . and 11 or more different drug classes, had prescriptions written by four or more prescribers, filled these prescriptions at two pharmacies and made 11 or more visits to those pharmacies,” they said.
The implication is that drug therapies are being poorly managed, but that assessment is not validated by the study. (HT to Jason Shafrin)
Maybe well enough should be left alone until something clearly better has been found.
I think the implied problem is that there is no PCT code that would allow a coordinator of these medicines to get paid.
One more way that Medicare has screwed up the health care system.
It’s easy to wind up with an internist, an ob-gyn, an optometrist, a dentist and more…so, I can see how there could be confusion and problems with multiple Rxs. What’s the solution? Electronic medical records?
Most pharmacies have software that checks prescriptions for contraindications. Of course, that only works if the patient fills their prescriptions at the same drugstore chain. It also doesn’t mean that each of a patient’s physicians know what all the other physicians have their patient on.
No one knows whether the multiple prescriptions are justified or not. The last line of the post says “The implication is that drug therapies are being poorly managed, but that assessment is not validated by the study.”