AdvancePCS Study Predicts That 12 Percent of Seniors Will Experience Dangerous Drug Interactions

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AdvancePCS Study Predicts That 12 Percent of Seniors Will Experience Dangerous Drug Interactions

IRVING, Texas, Jul 31, 2002 (BW HealthWire) -- As our nation's seniors seek treatment for multiple chronic conditions, the medications individually intended to make them better may collectively be making them worse, and in some cases putting them at mortal risk, a new study shows.

Up to 12 percent of older Americans -- more than 4 million people -- are taking more than eight different drugs, virtually assuring them of a drug interaction.

These are among the key findings in a study by AdvancePCS (Nasdaq:ADVP), the nation's leading health improvement company, conducted in conjunction with Brandeis University.

"Medications provide effective treatment and have dramatically improved both quality and longevity of life. But polyprescribing, the lack of coordination and communication among all the different physicians writing prescriptions for an individual patient, is resulting in dangerous and potentially fatal drug interactions," said Andrew Garling, M.D., senior vice president, chief medical officer for AdvancePCS.

"All of these treatments designed to make patients better may, in some cases, actually be making them worse."

    Report Shows Overall Rise in Use of Prescription Drugs

The AdvancePCS Health Improvement Report, sponsored by the company's Center for Healthier Aging, showed that most seniors age 65 and older are being treated for an average of four or more chronic disease conditions over the course of a year.

The number of prescribing physicians increases with the number of diseases being treated, which means different doctors are prescribing medications without always knowing what else the patient is taking.

Other key findings of the report indicate a dramatic increase in prescription medication use over the past 15 to 20 years among seniors:

    --  For individuals age 65 and older, the number of physician
        visits made annually has increased by 20 percent per person
        since 1985.
    --  The average number of medications prescribed per visit is two,
        which is an increase of 33 percent since the 1980s.
    --  Two-thirds of all office visits result in one or more
        prescriptions and nearly one-fourth result in four or more
        prescriptions, either newly prescribed or refills.

"To effectively and safely prescribe medication to individuals with four to 12 conditions or more would require all the physicians to know exactly what the patient is already taking," said Garling. "This is a huge problem as elderly patients may have difficulty keeping track of all of this information and physicians would need to know all the possible drug interactions."

    New Solutions

"AdvancePCS knows that a solution is possible, because we already have achieved dramatic results in our work to help solve the polypharmacy and polyprescriber problems," Garling said.

In a pilot program, AdvancePCS analyzed prescription data to identify the population of individuals receiving drugs from more than 12 drug classes within the previous 90 days. The top 100 prescribers and the top 100 pharmacies serving these patients were sent profiles describing patients' prescription histories and other educational information.

Within nine months, 25 percent of the highest multiple-prescription patients received fewer drugs and 34 percent of high-prescribing physicians were no longer in the top 100.

On a broader scale, AdvancePCS issued nearly 10 million online drug-drug interaction alerts to pharmacies in the United States last year. These alerts resulted in a change in the patient's drug therapy in almost 30 percent of the cases. The company also provides the same level of protection against drug interactions to seniors without a funded benefit who have enrolled in the AdvancePCS Rx Savings Plan.

"We need to expand and develop similar programs for the entire health care system to keep older Americans and others safe and to provide the best possible outcomes," Garling said.

The report recommends a number of solutions to this growing problem:

    --  Health plans and other organizations responsible for the
        health benefits of older Americans should develop programs to
        make sure all physicians are aware of every medication
        currently prescribed to a patient.
    --  Patient privacy regulation must not interfere with adequate
        sharing of drug-use data to allow for negative drug
        interaction alerts.
    --  Targeted senior and caregiver education is needed to increase
        awareness of the dangers of polypharmacy and polyprescribing.

To help implement these solutions, AdvancePCS also is developing innovative approaches to provide important information to physicians using wireless and hand-held computer technology. Providing physicians with better patient and drug data before they write a prescription can result in increased safety, greater efficiency, better health outcomes and lower drug costs.

    Tips To Help Seniors Avoid Dangerous Drug Interactions
    --  Make sure your doctor knows about every prescription and
        nonprescription drug you are taking, including herbal remedies
        and nutritional supplements -- and even your daily
        multivitamin.
    --  Ask your doctor if your medications can cause a negative
        interaction.
    --  Obtain a copy of your complete medical record to give to any
        new doctor or specialist you see. Be sure to remind them about
        any medications, chronic conditions, and allergies to
        medications of which you're aware.
    --  Understand the risks of taking medications. Read the warning
        labels on all over-the-counter medications, and ask your
        doctor about the side effects of all your prescriptions.
    --  Contact your doctor if you experience any side effects --
        including dizziness, constipation, nausea, sleep changes,
        diarrhea, incontinence, blurred vision, mood changes, or a
        rash -- after taking a drug.
    About AdvancePCS

AdvancePCS (www.advancepcs.com) is the nation's largest independent provider of health improvement services, touching the lives of more than 75 million health plan members and managing approximately $28 billion in annual prescription drug spending.

AdvancePCS offers health plans a wide range of health improvement products and services designed to improve the quality of care delivered to health plan members and manage costs.

The company's capabilities include integrated mail service and retail pharmacy networks, innovative clinical services, customized disease management programs, specialty pharmacy, clinical trials and outcomes research, information management, prescription drug services for the uninsured, and online health information for consumers.

AdvancePCS clients include Blue Cross and Blue Shield organizations, insurance companies and HMOs, Fortune 500 employers, Taft-Hartley groups, state and local governments, and other health plan sponsors.

AdvancePCS is ranked by Fortune magazine as one of America's 100 fastest-growing public companies and is included on the Forbes Platinum 400 list of best big companies. AdvancePCS earned the No. 2 on the Barron's 500 list of best-performing companies. AdvancePCS is both a Fortune 500 and Fortune Global 500 company.

CONTACT:          AdvancePCS
                  Blair Jackson, 480/391-4138

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