Medication errors are among the most common medical errors, harming at least 1.5 million people every year. The extra medical costs of treating drug-related injuries occurring in hospitals alone are at least to $3.5 billion a year, and this estimate does not take into account lost wages and productivity or additional health care costs.
Disease management is the concept of reducing health care costs and improving quality of life for individuals with chronic conditions by preventing or minimizing the effects of the disease through integrated care. Disease management programs are designed to improve the health of persons with chronic conditions and reduce associated costs from avoidable complications by identifying and treating chronic conditions more quickly and more effectively, thus slowing the progression of those diseases.
Drug utilization review (DUR) is defined as an authorized, structured, ongoing review of prescribing, dispensing and use of medication. DUR encompasses a drug review against predetermined criteria that results in changes to drug therapy when these criteria are not met.
Formulary management is an integrated patient care process which enables physicians, pharmacists and other health care professionals to work together to promote clinically sound, cost-effective medication therapy and positive therapeutic outcomes. Effective use of health care resources can minimize overall medical costs, improve patient access to more affordable care and provide an improved quality of life.
Where We Stand: AMCP supports the use of MAC pricing as a managed care tool to encourage the dispensing of cost saving generic drugs and thereby benefiting the overall health care system.
AMCP Format 4.1 includes new sections describing the evidence needs of HCDMs for unapproved products nearing the end of the product development pipeline, as well as unapproved uses of existing products for which FDA approval is being sought.
Prescription digital therapeutics are software programs that physicians prescribe as a form of treatment. They can help patients manage serious conditions ranging from opioid addiction to asthma to sleep disorders.
Where We Stand: Government regulation of prescription drug pricing, regardless of its structure, would have an overall negative impact on consumer cost, quality, and access to health care benefits.
E-prescribing is the use of health care technology to improve prescription accuracy, increase patient safety, and reduce costs as well as enable secure, real-time, bi-directional, electronic connectivity between clinicians and pharmacies. This is achieved by providing prescribers with a secure means of electronically accessing health plan formulary, patient eligibility, and medication history at the point of care and securely transmitting the prescription electronically into the pharmacy’s computer system.
