Adherence and Mail Order Pharmacy Use

Duru OK, Schmittdiel JA, Dyer WT, Parker MM, Uratsu CS, et al. Mail-Order Pharmacy Use and Adherence to Diabetes-Related Medications. Am J Manag Care. 2010;16(1):33-40. Available at: http://goo.gl/qlcc. Accessed January 14, 2010.

Overview: Cross-sectional study to investigate whether patients who use mail-order pharmacies were more likely to have good medication adherence than patients who use local pharmacies.

Results: A total of 13,922 eligible patients refilled an index medication. Compared with those who used only local pharmacies, patients who received medications by mail were more likely to have good adherence (84.7% vs 76.9%, P <.001). After adjusting for potential confounders, including days’ supply and out-of-pocket costs, mailorder users had better adherence to antiglycemic, antihypertensive, and lipid-lowering medications (P<.001 for all).