Pharmacy claims data as a tool to measure adherence

Abstract

Medication possession ratio (MPR) was introduced as a uniform methodology for estimating medication adherence from pharmacy claims data, but it does not provide accurate information on the continuity of medication usage and the measurement of medication persistency and identification of eventual gaps in medication supply. The combination of an MPR and a persistency metric could provide timely information on the dynamics of patient medication adherence.

Use of medication algorithms in first episode psychosis: a naturalistic observational study

“…Measurement of adherence is complex. Many methods are available, but most of these rely on information about the number of days the patient has taken medication in order to calculate a percentage, or on self‐report . Reports for our inpatients are relatively precise and reliable, but data for the outpatients are more uncertain.…”