When patients participate in medication synchronization programs through their local pharmacies, they tend to stay on their therapy programs for 103 more days each year and are 30% more likely to adhere to their prescription directions, according to a new study by the National Community Pharmacists Association.
Additionally, almost 90% of respondents using synchronized refills are adherent regarding the proportion of days covered. This is only true for 56% of respondents who do not rely on synchronized refills.
In these synchronization programs, which are generally not available through mail-order auto-refill shipments, the pharmacy calls patients once a month to review medications and dosing instructions, determine if physician visits or hospitalizations altered medication therapy, and confirm the medication is necessary. According to the Medication Adherence in America: A National Report Card, a personal connection with a pharmacy is the most important factor in adherence.
This study confirms that a personalized medication synchronization service delivered by community pharmacies is impactful, scalable and able to be replicated in any community pharmacy, says NCPA CEO B. Douglas Hoey, RPh, MBA. Its also further evidence of the positive impact that these and other types of pharmacy-provided services can have on patient health. As trusted, accessible medication experts, community pharmacists are ideally positioned to counsel patients and ensure they take medications as prescribed and understand their importance to better health.
The survey also finds that respondents in a medication synchronization program refill their prescriptions 3.4 more times a year on average, and pharmacies fill 20 more prescriptions annually for participants. Typically, enrolled respondents use 5.9 synchronized medications. Synchronization programs also reduced the number of prescriptions that are initially filled but never refilled by 90%.
This research represents the first study to examine independent pharmacies that are not affiliated with the same ownership and pharmacy management system. According to projections, at least 1,600 community pharmacies offer medication synchronization services to more than 70,000 patients throughout the country.
