Combinatorial pharmacogenomic guidance for psychiatric medications reduces overall pharmacy costs in a 1 year prospective evaluation.

Objectives: The objective of this project was to determine pharmacy cost savings and improvement in adherence based on a combinatorial pharmacogenomic test (CPGx ) in patients who had switched or added a new psychiatric medication after having failed monotherapy for their psychiatric disorder.

Research Design And Methods: The prospective project compared 1 year pharmacy claims between a GeneSight CPGx guided cohort and a propensity-matched control group. Patients were project eligible if they augmented or switched to a different antidepressant or antipsychotic medication within the previous 90 days.

Trends in use of ezetimibe after the ENHANCE trial, 2007 through 2010.

Importance: Results from the Ezetimibe and Simvastatin in Hypercholesterolemia Enhances Atherosclerosis Regression (ENHANCE) trial, announced in January 2008, demonstrated that ezetimibe use lowered cholesterol levels but did not slow the progression of atherosclerosis.

Objective: To examine the association of this announcement with national patterns of ezetimibe prescribing, including medication initiation and discontinuation, as well as predictors of use.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Retrospective analysis of a national sample of adults 18 years or older who were continuously enrolled in plans of a large US pharmacy benefit manager from 2007 to 2010.

Out-of-pocket drug costs and drug utilization patterns of postmenopausal Medicare beneficiaries with osteoporosis.

Background: The Medicare Part D coverage gap has been associated with lower adherence and drug utilization and higher discontinuation. Because osteoporosis has a relatively high prevalence among Medicare-eligible postmenopausal women, we examined changes in utilization of osteoporosis medications during this coverage gap.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in out-of-pocket (OOP) drug costs and utilization associated with the Medicare Part D coverage gap among postmenopausal beneficiaries with osteoporosis.

Is there a relationship between early statin compliance and a reduction in healthcare utilization?

Objective: To investigate whether compliance during the first 2 years of statin therapy is associated with reduced hospitalization rates and direct medical costs during year 3.

Study Design: An integrated pharmacy and medical claims database was used to identify adult patients with a new statin prescription between July 1, 2001, and June 30, 2002. The study tracked statin prescription refills during the first 2 years after the initial statin claim and tracked hospitalizations and direct medical costs during the first 3 years.