The American journal of managed care
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To assess the relationship between cost sharing and adherence to antidiabetic medications in patients with type 2 diabetes and to examine the relationship between medication adherence and outcomes, including complication rates, medical service utilization, and workplace productivity measures. ⋯ Medical plans, employers, and policy makers should consider implementing interventions targeted to improve antidiabetic medication adherence, which may translate to better outcomes.
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To evaluate the relationship between adherence to antihypertensive medications (AHMs) and subsequent hospitalizations, emergency department (ED) visits, and costs of care. ⋯ Adherence to AHMs is associated with significantly lower total healthcare costs and with significantly lower odds of CV-related hospitalizations and ED visits.
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Medication nonadherence, clinical inertia, and contradictory clinical evidence on aggressive disease management contribute to poor outcomes in diabetes management, leading to increased healthcare utilization and costs. As plans increase their focus on the management of type 2 diabetes as an area of high healthcare resource utilization, the importance of appropriate antihyperglycemic agent selection is receiving more attention. The selection process is further complicated by the crowded diabetes drug category, which features several agents with diverse mechanisms of action and routes of administration. ⋯ Essentially, this innovative form of benefit design dictates that the more clinically beneficial the therapy, the lower patients' cost share will be. Other interventions, such as motivational interviewing, pay-for-performance, and medication therapy management, are also being applied to improve treatment adherence and outcomes in the managed care environment, with varying levels of success. Regardless of the specific inventions applied at health plans for improving treatment success in type 2 diabetes, pharmacy director leadership and involvement can contribute to the success of these efforts.