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The Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy's 24th Annual Meeting and Showcase: Management of MS medications to improve adherence rates
A panel at AMCP's annual meeting discussed the need to improve MS medication adherence.
While nonadherence to medications is problematic for many chronic diseases, multiple sclerosis (MS) appears near the top of the list, following diabetes and depression. Daniel S. Bandari, MD, medical director and founder, Multiple Sclerosis Center for Southern California and Research Group, led a recent panel discussion at the Academy of the Managed Care Pharmacy's 24th Annual Meeting, in San Francisco, on "Analyzing and Applying the Evidence to Improve Cost/Benefit and Risk/Benefit Outcomes for Multiple Sclerosis."
With a plethora of barriers to compliance and adherence-cognitive and financial issues, absence of symptoms, and perceived lack of efficacy-it was easy to see why there is so much resistance to drugs for MS.
In a 2011 survey reported in Patient Preference and Adherence, Dr Bandari cited that 31% of overall respondents using disease-modifying therapy (DMT) reported taking a deliberate break from treatment for 1 day or longer, and 19% said they stopped taking their medication completely. Side effects from treatment ranked as the number 1 reason. In another report in 2011, missed doses in general were attributed primarily to forgetfulness, he said.
Unfortunately, nonadherence to DMT has a large impact on resource utilization and costs, generating more hospitalizations, emergency department visits, and MS relapses.
Dr Bandari suggested a number of solutions to manage tolerability of MS medications often due to flu-like symptoms:
He also pointed out adopting proper injection techniques, such as use of electronic autoinjectors-ideal for patients with needle phobias, meticulous site rotation, and use of room-temperature solutions, and warm compresses before and after injection.
Currently, nearly 3,000 patients are enrolled in the Therapy Optimization in Multiple Sclerosis (TOP MS) study. As the largest prospective phase 4 study for the disease, it is analyzing an MS population receiving both treatment and medication therapy management via specialty pharmacies. Results are expected late 2012.
Coalition promotes important acetaminophen dosing reminders
November 18th 2014It may come as a surprise that each year Americans catch approximately 1 billion colds, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that as many as 20% get the flu. This cold and flu season, 7 in 10 patients will reach for an over-the-counter (OTC) medicine to treat their coughs, stuffy noses, and sniffles. It’s an important time of the year to remind patients to double check their medicine labels so they don’t double up on medicines containing acetaminophen.
Support consumer access to specialty medications through value-based insurance design
June 30th 2014The driving force behind consumer cost-sharing provisions for specialty medications is the acquisition cost and not clinical value. This appears to be true for almost all public and private health plans, says a new report from researchers at the University of Michigan Center for Value-Based Insurance Design (V-BID Center) and the National Pharmaceutical Council (NPC).
Management of antipsychotic medication polypharmacy
June 13th 2013Within our healthcare-driven society, the increase in the identification and diagnosis of mental illnesses has led to a proportional increase in the prescribing of psychotropic medications. The prevalence of mental illnesses and subsequent treatment approaches may employ monotherapy as first-line treatment, but in many cases the use of combination of therapy can occur, leading to polypharmacy.1 Polypharmacy can be defined in several ways but it generally recognized as the use of multiple medications by one patient and the most common definition is the concurrent use of five more medications. The presence of polyharmacy has the potential to contribute to non-compliance, drug-drug interactions, medication errors, adverse events, or poor quality of life.
Medical innovation improves outcomes
June 12th 2013I have been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer of the pancreas, a disease that’s long been considered not just incurable, but almost impossible to treat-a recalcitrant disease that some practitioners feel has given oncology a bad name. I was told my life would be measured in weeks.
