New Strategies for Managing the Military’s Pharmacy Costs
Aug 04 2010
It is no secret that the cost of pharmaceuticals in our country has been one of the leading drivers of increased healthcare costs. This is also true in the military’s healthcare system (MHS).
With the increasing emphasis placed on DoD to drive down costs, the MHS as a large portion of defense spending continues to be placed under tremendous scruitiny. As the MOAA healthcare specialists, one of our roles is to participate with the TRICARE Management Activity’s (TMA) beneficiary coalition to partner in efforts to help address the escalating costs of healthcare. We are presently fully engaged in this effort by developing strategies which will reduce the overall cost of pharmaceutical delivery.
One of the objectives we are actively participating in is in the area of mail order or home delivery of medications. Our main goal is to influence beneficiaries and medication prescribers to increase their utilization of the mail order pharmacy option.
Consider this cost breakdown – for a 90 day supply of the top 500 brand medications the cost per perscription are as follows: The military pharmacy = $117.00 Mail order =$169.00 and Retail (eg. a CVS, Walgreen’s etc) =$294.00! As we can see, it is quite expensive to deliver medications through the retail system. As of today’s date, of all pharmacy program prescription claim volumes only 30% are attributable to the mail order option. This is where our our big opportunities lie! By driving pharmacy refill medications away from the retail sector and into the mail order system, this has the potential to save millions of dollars in costs to the MHS!
Clearly the key to major cost avoidance is to optimize the home delivery experience. The MHS has a contract to do this with a nationally renowned company within the industry named Express Scripts. Express Scripts in partnership with the MHS and many of us beneficiary organizations, is putting together a plan to achieve increasingly significant conversion rates from predominantly the retail sector but also including the military pharmacies into the mail order system.
You will see soon, if you have not already, an increase in promotional materials and services which are designed to make this process extremely easy for you and I. Next time you need to renew and refill a maintenance prescription, choose the home delivery option!
4 Responses to “New Strategies for Managing the Military’s Pharmacy Costs”
Capt. Beasley’s post suggestiong greater use of the mail order pharmacy system seems a bit incongruent. Military pharmacy costs seem to be one third less than mail order, thus the quandry. Are the military pharmacies being phased out? Or did I miss something. No question though on the comparison with local retail use and of course not all members have reasonable access to a military pharmancy.
A clarification might be in order.
Thanks
I recognize this increased cost. But I rather like the idea of talking to my pharmacist face to face and not someone or by remote means. Major, Army R. age 88 soon 89.
I can certainly understand you wanting to talk with your pharmacist….and many people do especially if they are taking multiple medications at the same time.
The intent for optimal mail order usage would pertain to those of us on one or two “routine med’s” such as a blood pressure med or a cholesterol lowering med which we have been maintained successfully on for a period of time. Also, by using mail order with Express Scripts, we do have access to a pharmacist by phone which is convienent also.
To answer your question, by promoting the use of mail order as a cost effective alternative to both the military treatment facility and the retail does not imply that the military pharmacy is being phased out. Have you been to a busy military pharmacy lately? I have. While the MTF’s try very hard to minimize “wait times” they are usually not successful. This is due to primarily under staffing of personnel, large demand, and poorly designed infrastructure.
The military pharmacies struggle to provide good customer service and the use of mail order for routine medications will certainly help lighten the load as well as save money for the system.