Of these members, approximately 150,000 members have pharmacy benefits while approximately 30,000 do not. A random sample of patients from each group who had at least one medical claim during the 12 month period was obtained. The number of medical claims also differed with an adjusted mean of 49.7 claims for paitents without benefit compared to an adjusted mean of 39.1 claims for patients with benefit. Preliminary results demonstrate the value and potential savingss to employers providing pharmacy benefits. Further anlysis will adjust for income and incorporate employer sponsored program costs.
Epilepsy is a disease state associated with severe disability, and limitations.
However it represents a severe socioeconomic burden on the society. Drug therapy is the major method of controlling this condition, and is also the most costly category of service. In this era of cost containment and formulary restrictions, it is important to identify the factors associated with medication utilization for condition such as epilepsy. The results of the statistical model suggest a significant positive slope in medication utilization. None of the other demographic, comorbid, diagnostic, and patient disposition factors were significant.