Mail-Service Pharmacies: Driving Greater Safety, Adherence, and Savings for Patients
During this public health emergency, mail-service pharmacies have continued to be a safe, convenient, and reliable way for patients to get their maintenance medications and other essential prescription drugs. In fact, through July 2020, the IQVIA Institute has found a 20 percent increase in prescription drugs filled through mail-service pharmacies during the pandemic, as compared to 2019. Mail-service has helped Americans to access their prescriptions while sheltering at home at a crucial time in our history.
At the same time, policymakers are appropriately asking many questions about mail-service pharmacy in light of modifications to postal operations that have been under consideration. Our industry wants to make it clear that patients and consumers should feel confident that we are taking all necessary steps so that individuals continue to receive their medications.
Facilitating convenient, reliable access to prescription drugs through cutting-edge, high-quality mail-service pharmacies isn’t new. For decades, America’s pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) have offered home delivery of medications for patients. Mail-service pharmacies ship hundreds of millions of prescriptions each year via the United States Postal Service (USPS) to those with chronic conditions, older Americans, and patients residing in rural, remote, and other underserved communities. I am one of those patients, and for several years have received a 90-day supply of my statin like clockwork from my PBM — two different PBMs, in fact, as I moved from one employer plan to another.
To ensure timely medication delivery for patients, PBMs use sophisticated and automated technology; geographically dispersed mail-service pharmacies; proprietary route determination and sorting processes; and contracts with multiple national mail and shipping carriers.
Despite some of the rhetoric, surveys show that patients are highly satisfied with mail-service pharmacies. Patients experience numerous benefits when using mail-service pharmacies, including use of more-affordable alternative drug options; greater safety through higher dispensing accuracy rates; convenient access to 24/7 confidential counseling and telepharmacy; and greater medication adherence. Specifically, research has demonstrated filling prescriptions through mail-service pharmacies and in 90-day supplies, the typical quantity dispensed through mail, can increase adherence to drug regimens, including for individuals living with chronic conditions.
Adherence to treatment is a major step in improving health outcomes for those living with chronic conditions. Medication adherence contributes significantly to reducing the chances of adverse health outcomes and lowering overall health care costs through avoidance of acute episodes, including extra visits to the doctor and rehospitalizations. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “nonadherence [to medication] is associated with higher rates of hospital admissions, suboptimal health outcomes, increased morbidity and mortality, and increased health care costs.”
That emphasis on improved health through greater adherence highlights the need for continued access to mail-service pharmacies. Along with increased safety and adherence, mail-service pharmacies will save consumers over $59.6 billion from 2015 to 2024.
While the combination of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and changes to USPS services and processes reflect new and evolving conditions, PBMs will continue to send medications safely.
For PBMs, our top priority remains enabling everyone to access, as safely, conveniently, and cost-effectively as possible, the quality health care they need.
