Express Scripts says 3.6% Rise in Drug Spending Last Year

According to an annual drug trend report put together by Express Scripts, there was a 3.6% overall spending increase on pharmaceutical drugs last year. It may seem like a lot, but compared to a 6.4% increase from the year before, many believe healthcare costs are finally ebbing. Less money is being put into promoting ineffective drugs, while less money is necessary for the truly beneficial drugs if they do the job appropriately. In the end, the benefits are passed from healthcare insurance companies onto patients.

A pharmacy-benefit management company, Express Scripts, says that although the costs are going down, there is still a substantial amount of money being spent on drugs that produce no actual health benefit. Roughly $403 billion per year is wasted on useless or less effective prescriptions and supplements.

Express Script seems to think the difference is in the brand-name. According to a survey, 82% of current patients admitted that they would be willing to make the switch to generics, but still the numbers are in favor of brand-name drugs. The goal of Express Scripts is to aggressively move consumers and patients toward cost-effective and beneficial drugs using programs such as low-cost retailers and home delivery services. They also urge that patients at least take a trial of the generic before moving on to brand-name alternatives.

Contact Healthcare Consultants -Pharmacy Business Solutions for help with your pharmacy planning, pharmacy design or interim pharmacy management.

College of Pharmacy to Open at UGA & Phoebe

A beautiful new clinical campus opened up this month after leaders of the UGA and Albany’s Phoebe Putney Hospital teamed up to improve healthcare in the region. The motion will provide better medical education and increase pharmacy management in the greater Albany area.

The partnership between the hospital and the College of Pharmacy was established with the intent of bettering the currently available pharmaceutical care and heightening the quality of education and care for students and patients. The collaboration is said to be vital due to the area’s current lack of Pharmacists.

The campus will be located in Phoebe’s Education and Training Center, allowing more hands-on experience and practice for pharmacy students. They say the intention is to attract a wide variety of students to come and study in Albany, but also to stay. Currently, UGA’s College has somewhere around 550 students of pharmacy. The hope is that around 50 of those students will train in Southwest Georgia. Based on the immediate responses, that number shouldn’t be much of an issue for them.

Contact Healthcare Consultants -Pharmacy Business Solutions for help with your pharmacy planning, pharmacy design or interim pharmacy management.