Managed care pharmacists will play a key role in reforming the current health care system by continuing to develop innovative programs that reduce costs and improve quality of care, said Mark McClellan, MD, PhD, director of the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC. He discussed the effects of the recent health care reform legislation in a presentation at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy meeting. More »

The effect of payment delays on the normal functioning of community pharmacy operations has been documented. We undertook a study to evaluate and compare pharmacists’ perception regarding reimbursement rates and processing time for prescription drug claims processed for Medicare Part D, Medicaid, and commercial managed care plans. More »

Medication adherence increased in patients who received a 90-day supply compared with those who received a 30-day supply, according to a recent presentation at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy’s Annual Meeting. More »

The gap in Medicare prescription drug coverage, or the doughnut hole, may be why many seniors with diabetes are not adhering to medications. Researchers from Kaiser Permanente and the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, focused their study on what happens during the gap, or when patients are paying for their medications out of pocket.1 More »

Health care spending in the United States slowed to a growth rate of 4.4% in 2008—the slowest in 48 years—as national health spending reached $2.3 trillion ($7681 per person). These results were published in an annual report from the National Health Expenditure Accounts Team.1 More »