Connecting Patients to Prescription Assistance Programs: Effects on Emergency Department and Hospital Utilization

Burley, Mason; Daratha, Kenn B.; White, John R.; Wilson, Michael B.; Armstrong, Kelly; McPherson, Sterling; Selinger, Samuel L.

doi:10.18553/jmcp.2016.22.4.381

Cited by 8 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Previous studies have demonstrated benefits of reducing medication costs and connecting uninsured patients with medication assistance programs, but many outpatient clinics do not routinely enroll patients in these programs. 17 , 18 , 23 - 26 One review concluded that there is a lack of peer-reviewed literature assessing the impact of medication access on health outcomes. 27…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous studies likewise demonstrated that increases in medication adherence can positively affect control of chronic conditions and decrease hospitalizations. 11 , 18 , 26 , 28 The data concerning ED visits is less clear, however, with studies showing that medication nonadherence can lead to ED visits, but a lack of evidence demonstrating that decreasing medication costs is associated with decreased ED visits. 25 , 26 , 29 , 30 One study examined rates of acute care utilization following facilitated patient enrollment in medication assistance programs facilitated by a social worker.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… 11 , 18 , 26 , 28 The data concerning ED visits is less clear, however, with studies showing that medication nonadherence can lead to ED visits, but a lack of evidence demonstrating that decreasing medication costs is associated with decreased ED visits. 25 , 26 , 29 , 30 One study examined rates of acute care utilization following facilitated patient enrollment in medication assistance programs facilitated by a social worker. 26 There was a mean decrease of 0.096 acute care encounters per participant in the three months after enrollment, but the types of acute care encounters were not defined.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluation of Hospital-Based Acute Care Utilization by Uninsured Patients Enrolled in Free or Low-Cost Pharmacy Programs

Stickel¹,

Kim²

2021

Innov Pharm

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Background: Research is warranted to define the role of affordable pharmacy programs in optimizing healthcare utilization for uninsured patients. Methods: This was a pre-post study including uninsured patients from an internal medicine residency clinic who enrolled in free or low-cost pharmacy programs with clinical pharmacist support. Results: In the period following program enrollment (N=116), there was a mean decrease of 0.23 acute care encounters (hospitalizations and emergency department [ED] visits) per patient (p=0.0210, 95% CI 0.04-0.43). The mean decrease for hospitalizations was also statistically significant (0.17, p=0.0052, 95% CI 0.05-0.28), but the mean decrease for ED visits was not (0.06, p=0.3771, 95% CI -0.08-0.21). Using the national average hospitalization cost of $10,700, the decrease in hospitalizations represents an estimated savings of $246,100. Conclusions: Enrollment in affordable pharmacy programs was found to be associated with decreased acute care encounters.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluation of Hospital-Based Acute Care Utilization by Uninsured Patients Enrolled in Free or Low-Cost Pharmacy Programs

Stickel¹,

Kim²

2021

Innov Pharm

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“…Nurses may need to refer patients to prescription assistance programs (PAPS) which offer access to free or reduced-price prescriptions (Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, 2019). Research has found that emergency room visits and hospital readmissions were reduced among the patients who were assisted (Burley et al, 2016). The criticism of PAPs is that eligibility rules can vary by prescription and by pharmaceutical company making it necessary to apply to several different programs to access all needed prescriptions.…”

Section: Practice Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences Between U.S. Workers With Asthma by Paid Sick Leave Status: An Analysis of the 2018 National Health Interview Survey

DeRigne

Stoddard-Dare

Collins

et al. 2020

Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice

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Having asthma is a chronic condition that requires both acute and preventive care as a vital component of asthma action plans. This study looks at how having access to paid sick leave days may be important to adherence to asthma action plans. Does having paid sick days facilitate preventive care, help people avoid acute asthma incidents, reduce the number of lost work days, reduce the cost of care, and lessen financial worry among asthma sufferers? This research builds on a growing body of literature that has established a relationship between paid sick leave days and preventive and acute health care use and outcomes and yet is the first of its kind to examine the relationship specifically between asthma and paid sick leave. This study used secondary data analysis to examine the relationship between six outcome variables categories and having paid sick leave in a nationally representative sample of N = 1,676 working U.S. adults in the National Health Interview Survey. Workers without paid sick leave benefits were significantly more likely to report they were worried about finances and struggle to afford their prescription medication compared to their counterparts who have paid sick leave benefits. Examined in light of past findings, workers with asthma who lack paid sick leave are in a precarious situation where they have increased worry likely due in part to reduced take-home pay due to unpaid sick days and increased medical expenses. There was no relationship between having paid sick leave and the receipt of preventive asthma care, measures of asthma control, receipt of patient education, and asthma medication use. Implications for policy and practice are put forth.

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“…Universal screening for suicide risk in the ED increases detection of risk and is widely accepted in both pediatric and adult settings [39][40][41]. The provision of prescription assistance can help address socioeconomic factors known to increase ED usage [42]. Depression symptom severity correlates with increased barriers to health care access, which contributes to increased rates of ED use [18].…”

Section: Somatic Manifestations Of Depression Can Be Misdiagnosed As mentioning

confidence: 99%

Depression Linked to Frequent Emergency Department Use in Large 10-year Retrospective Analysis of an Integrated Health Care System

Ingram

Weston

Ritchie

et al. 2017

Preprint

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We evaluated general patient features related to depression and frequency of Emergency Department (ED) use in a large integrated health care system. Electronic Health Records of 287,281 adults from a general patient population were studied retrospectively over a 10-year period. Patients with a history of depression were more likely to be seen in the ED and at higher frequency than those without. Frequent ED users were more likely to have a history of depression or psychiatric medication orders than infrequent users. ED visits by depression patients and frequent users have highly correlated complaints and discharge diagnoses with other ED users, often related to pain. Poorly managed depression may be playing a role in frequent ED utilization which may be addressed by universal screening for depression, evaluation of barriers to treatment, and other novel interventions to improve care coordination.

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Connecting Patients to Prescription Assistance Programs: Effects on Emergency Department and Hospital Utilization

Cited by 8 publications

References 19 publications

Evaluation of Hospital-Based Acute Care Utilization by Uninsured Patients Enrolled in Free or Low-Cost Pharmacy Programs

Evaluation of Hospital-Based Acute Care Utilization by Uninsured Patients Enrolled in Free or Low-Cost Pharmacy Programs

Differences Between U.S. Workers With Asthma by Paid Sick Leave Status: An Analysis of the 2018 National Health Interview Survey

Depression Linked to Frequent Emergency Department Use in Large 10-year Retrospective Analysis of an Integrated Health Care System

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