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5Tips to Help Patients Save Money on Prescriptions
Allison Gilchrist, Associate Editor
体会原汁原味的美国科普，下期将为大家推送本篇文章的全中文翻译，敬请期待！
Pharmacists can help patients save money on theirprescriptions each time they approach the pharmacy counter.
Skyrocketing prescription drug prices sit squarely at the center of policydebates about the US health care system. Even generic medications are becomingunaffordable.
According to drug pricing research firm Truveris, the overall cost of allgenerics increased by 5% in 2014, though more extreme surges wereseen when the data was broken down by therapeutic area. Medical conditions thatsaw the largest increases in generic drug prices included muscle pain andstiffness (31.9%), inflammation (31.7%), heart disease (23.7%), acne (18.1%),and infections (11.8%).
Although pharmacists may not be able to alter drug market dynamics for the sakeof reducing prescription costs, they do have several tools at their disposal tohelp patients save as much money as possible.
Start with the following 5 steps:
1. Offer to process the prescription without going through insurance.
This may seem counterintuitive, but a recent Consumer Reports analysisrevealed that many retail pharmacy chains and big-box stores offer commongenerics at prices as low as $4 for a 30-day supply and $10 for a 90-day supplyfor patients willing to pay out of pocket. Of note, the ability to obtain thesediscounts varies based on the type of medication and condition being treated.
One caveat pharmacists should let patients know is that if they choose tocircumvent their insurance plan, the money spent toward that prescription willnot count toward their deductible. It is also important to make sure patientsare aware that they may not be eligible for discount programs if they receivecoverage through Medicare, Medicaid, or Tricare.
2. Perform a medication review.
When patients receive multiple medications from several different prescribers,there are greater odds that at least 1 of those medications is inappropriate.This can lead to polypharmacy, for which older patients and those with multiplecomorbid conditions are most at-risk.
While polypharmacy has obvious patient health pitfalls, pharmacists should alsohighlight how discontinuing an unnecessary medication can help patients reducetheir overall prescription drug costs.
To do this, pharmacists should identify all the medications that a patient istaking by obtaining an accurate medication and medical history. Then, thepharmacist can link each prescribed medication to a disease state and initiateinterventions with the patient’s prescriber to discontinue medications deemedinappropriate.
3. Encourage patients to fill 90-day prescriptions.
Patients with chronic conditions that necessitate long-term use of a medicationmay be able to save money buy filling a 90-day prescription instead of thestandard 30-day prescription.
When using insurance, patients filling a 90-day prescription will only have 1co-pay, as opposed to 3 co-pays for the same amount of medication. They wouldalso only have to make 1 trip to the pharmacy every 3 months.
4. Encourage patients to substitute brand-name drugs with the generic, ifavailable.
Recent estimates show that 88% of prescriptions dispensed in the United States arefor generic drugs, but prescribers are under no obligation to prescribe thegeneric version if the patient doesn’t ask them to do so.
When patients are paying for prescriptions out of pocket, they may want to checkonline resources such as GoodRx to find the “fair price” for generics versusbrand-name versions and compare them with the pharmacy’s listed prices.
5. When appropriate, advise the patient to safely split pills.
Pill splitting is a common strategy used by patients looking to save moneyamid rising drug costs, but 8% of those patients admit to splitting pillswithout receiving approval from a pharmacist or physician.
Certain drugs for certain conditions—including high cholesterol medicationslike lovastatin (Mevacor) and rosuvastatin (Crestor), as well as depressionmedications like sertraline (Zoloft)—can be split without reducing theirefficacy or causing negative side effects. However, other medications such asoxycodone (Oxycontin), omeprazole (Prilosec), chemotherapy drugs, andcontraceptives should never be split.
Pharmacists should take the time to explain which medications can be splitsafely and accurately.
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