Cost‐benefit analysis of a clinical pharmacist‐managed medication assistance program in a renal transplant clinic

Abstract

A clinical pharmacist-managed medication assistance program in a renal transplant clinic produced substantial cost savings over this 1-year study period. For each dollar spent in pharmacist's time, a minimum of $4 was returned to the institution.

Pharmaceutical Patient Assistance Programs: Don't Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth or There's No Such Thing as a Free Lunch

“…14 Chisholm et al indicated that use of PAPs resulted in cost avoidance of between $69,000 and $125,000 in atransplant clinic in auniversity teaching hospital for the 1998 calendar year. 15 Coleman et al reported net savings of $57,000 over 6months for indigent inpatients in aConnecticut hospital. 16 As Clay et al documented in an article in ap revious issue of JMCP, PAPs aren ot without costs.…”

“…Most of the available research has been limited to estimation of the short-term, direct costs of operating PAPs from the health carei nstitution' sp erspective. [14][15][16]18,19 Most researchers have focused on the costs of pharmacists, technicians, and other employees-such as social workers or patient registration technicians-employed to manage the process of applying for and dispensing PAPd rugs. For the most part, these studies have not included valuation of physician' st ime, overhead costs to the institution, or patients' time.…”

Pharmaceutical Manufacturer Prescription Assistance Programs: Are They Worth It?

“…Pharmacist-coordinated PAPp rograms in various settings have demonstrated net cost-savings to justify the higher pharmacy personnel costs. [6][7]11,16 Third, medication deliverym ay take 2t o6w eeks, so other means to bridge with an accessible and affordable therapeutically equivalent alternative may be necessaryw hile waiting. This is ap otential area for medication errors since patients are at risk of duplicating drug therapies if they do not receive proper counseling to discontinue the bridge medication.…”

“…17 Examples of cost-savings from the establishment of PAPs have been demonstrated in ar enal transplant clinic (a minimum of $4 was returned to the institution for $1 spent in the pharmacist' stime). 6 Additionally,aPAP at amedical center clinic resulted in cost savings of $237,985 over 6months, yielding abenefit-to-cost ratio of 2.2:1. 16 Nykamp and Ruggles reported that maintaining adherence to needed medications improves caref or underserved patients and leads to decreased health caree xpenditures.…”

“…Much evidence justifies the benefits of establishing aP AP to assist indigent patients in obtaining their needed medications. [6][7][8][9][10][11][12] Since 2006, am ajority of manufacturers have streamlined their PAPs to require1a pplication per year with the exception of Novo Nordisk, Forest, Sanofi-aventis, Sankyo, and Biovail. The development of a" universal" application process would greatly benefit patients and health careproviders by reducing personnel time required to complete individual applications tailored to specific manufacturers.…”