Reducing Medication Costs to Prevent XXXX : A Community Guide Systematic Review.

@entity407 @entity1 @entity101 @entity65 @entity165
INTRODUCTION: @entity101 and @entity407 are major @entity65 risk factors. To modify them, @entity1 often need to adopt healthier lifestyles and adhere to prescribed medications. However, @entity1 ' adherence to recommended treatments has been suboptimal. Reducing out-of-pocket costs (ROPC) to @entity1 may improve medication adherence and consequently improve health outcomes. This Community Guide systematic review examined the effectiveness of ROPC for medications prescribed for @entity1 with @entity101 and @entity407 . METHODS: We assessed effectiveness and economics of ROPC for medications to treat @entity101 , @entity407 , or both. Per Community Guide review methods, reviewers identified, evaluated, and summarized available evidence published from January 1980 through July 2015. RESULTS: Eighteen studies were included in the analysis. ROPC interventions resulted in increased medication adherence for @entity1 taking blood pressure and @entity165 medications by a median of 3.0 percentage points; proportion achieving 80% adherence to medication increased by 5.1 percentage points. Blood pressure and @entity165 outcomes also improved. Nine studies were included in the economic review, with a median intervention cost of  172 per @entity1 per year and a median change in health care cost of - 127 per @entity1 per year. CONCLUSION: ROPC for medications to treat @entity101 and @entity407 is effective in increasing medication adherence, and, thus, improving blood pressure and @entity165 outcomes. Most ROPC interventions are implemented in combination with evidence-based health care interventions such as team-based care with medication counseling. An overall conclusion about the economics of the intervention could not be reached with the small body of inconsistent cost-benefit evidence.
