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MedImpact Collaborates on Study That Links Increases in Medication Copay With Increased Cardiovascular Risk

Posted on: Tuesday, 28 August 2007, 15:14 CDT

MedImpact, the nation's largest pharmacy benefit management (PBM) company that does not sell drugs, today announced results from a study assessing the effect of copays on the utilization of statins, an important drug class used to treat unhealthy levels of cholesterol. This study analyzed the effect of an increase in copays on patient compliance with statins and confirms that copay increases lower statin use by patients. More significantly, study findings reveal that those who are already poorly compliant with statin therapy are most affected by increased copays. This groundbreaking research was published in a report titled The Demand for Statin: The Effect of Copay on Utilization and Compliance in the online version of the July 2007 issue of Health Economics. It is scheduled for print release in the spring of 2008. MedImpact and the University of Southern California (USC) were collaborators on the study.

"This study is unique because it is more likely to represent the behavior of average patients and because it considers important variables that have not been included in other copay and drug compliance studies," said Dr. Louis Brunetti, medical director for MedImpact. "Since the study indicates that an increase in copay leads to a fall in compliance rates among specific individuals, payors and others now have new information that can help guide benefit designs that may lead to better compliance and reduced risk for cardiovascular disease."

The medical community is well aware that cholesterol reduction is effective in the prevention of coronary heart disease. Furthermore, statins have been proven to reduce levels of cholesterol. For those for whom statins are an appropriate therapy for cholesterol reduction, compliance is important because these significant health benefits are only achieved through sustained treatment.

These findings demonstrate that a $10 increase in brand drug copay reduces compliance by approximately 10%. Specifically, the research shows that patients who are compliant with their statin drug therapy before their copay was increased were not particularly sensitive to the increase and remained compliant with their treatment. Conversely, those patients who were poorly compliant before their copay was increased were significantly more sensitive to the increase and became less compliant to their treatment. These findings suggest that compliance may be improved through the use of more flexible benefit designs that encourage compliance among those with the highest risk.

"I commend those who contributed to this research for their use of advanced methods that have delivered new and meaningful information to the medical community," said Dr. Brunetti. "Indeed, MedImpact's evidence-based research has produced findings that help us work more effectively with our clients to improve clinical outcomes and to lower the cost of health care."

About MedImpact Healthcare Systems, Inc.

MedImpact Healthcare Systems, Inc., based in San Diego, California, was founded in 1989. The company currently serves 27 million individuals nationwide with clients that include Fortune 500 corporations, unions, managed care organizations, insurance carriers, third-party administrators, as well as local, state and federal employee programs. MedImpact bases its success on delivering innovative products and services designed to lower overall client cost while increasing member satisfaction and quality of care.

Source: Business Wire

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