A recent publication from Walgreens employees suggests a lower amount of waste. The primary difference likely results from their calculating waste only from switches to a different strength or medication. My analyses also included patients that discontinued therapy for a condition. This commonly occurs approximately 6 months after starting a medication. Conceptually, a patient would "waste" an average of 15 days of medication following discontinuation of a 30-day supply. Patients with a 90-day supply would waste an average of 45 days of medication.
I prefer 30-day supplies when a program includes an alert identification and notification system that relies on claims data. This allows the system to identify potential gaps in care sooner than with 90-day fill intervals.
The op-ed piece in the same journal also explains some caveats related to this study.
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