Independent Pharmacy Profit Margins Not Driving Rising Medication Costs

Per Drug Channels:  "Given the slight increase in gross margin, gross profit dollars per prescription grew slightly, from $12.40 per prescription in 2011 to $12.61 per prescription in 2012."

While you can save some money using a preferred pharmacy network a focus on improving prescribing habits presents a far greater opportunity for savings and improved quality.

Update:  11/14/13
Wal-Mart recently aired commercials promoting their preferred pharmacy network option.  If you're interested in a preferred network please note that CMS found that of 13 plans reviewed  there were eight (8) that were less expensive and five (5) that were more expensive than the traditional plan.  It's not enough to just choose to use a preferred network. You need a solid analysis of savings, guarantees of those savings and audits to confirm.

What Patient Characteristics Influence Use of Mail-Service Over Local Pharmacies?

A recent article in the American Journal of Managed Care identified better compliance (84.7% vs 76.9%) in patients using mail-service rather than a local Kaiser pharmacy.  However, the self-selected groups had much different characteristics such as race, socioeconomic deprivation score, Medicare versus commercial insurance and financial incentives to use mail-service.   I am still not sure whether place of service matters in most situations.  I think the services any pharmacy provides to improve adherence makes a bigger difference.  These include reminders, compliance monitoring and notification, incentives and personal connections with a pharmacist.