SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun. 18, 2019--
Magellan Rx Management, the pharmacy benefit management (PBM) division ofMagellan
Health, Inc. (NASDAQ: MGLN), has launched an innovative solution to
control spend for high-cost infusible drugs, while promoting high
quality care for members. Payers are often faced with challenges like
limited vial size options and availability that can lead to excessive
spend in categories such as oncology and autoimmune conditions. The
Magellan Rx drug wastage program leverages prior authorization and
dosing protocols, in collaboration with providers, to identify
clinically-appropriate opportunities to reduce waste.
Since the drug wastage program launched in early 2018, participating
health plans have saved over $46 million and savings continue to grow.
This reduction in waste is also critical to improving the efficiency of
healthcare throughout the United States and is a key component to
providing high quality care.
Effective Strategies to Combat Expensive Drug Wastage
When a portion of a medication is unused and discarded due to vial size
limitations, payers are billed for product that wasn’t actually
administered to the patient. Depending on the drug, this can equate to
tens of thousands of dollars wasted per patient over the course of
treatment. Drug wastage is an established problem, especially in
oncology where research has estimated that nearly $3 billion is wasted
annually in cancer medicines that are discarded.1 High-cost
medications used to treat autoimmune conditions such as rheumatoid
arthritis can also contribute to substantial drug wastage. Given the top
five Commercial medical benefit drugs by spend fall within the oncology,
oncology support, or autoimmune categories2, there is an
opportunity to leverage drug wastage strategies to combat rising drug
spend.
“It is imperative for payers and patients to be aware of these market
dynamics and medical benefit drug spend and trend—which, historically,
has gone unmanaged—in order to implement timely strategies that will
mitigate escalating drug costs,” said Steve Cutts, senior vice president
and general manager, specialty. “At Magellan Rx, we equip our customers
with the knowledge to make better decisions and provide
clinically-appropriate interventions for their members directed at
reducing drug waste, resulting in significant dollars saved for the plan
as well as downstream reductions in member cost share.”
Clinical pharmacists at Magellan Rx teamed up with expert key opinion
leaders and health plan customers to develop and implement a program
that identifies opportunities to reduce drug wastage, targeting
high-cost medications. Once identified, providers are given the option
to prescribe a clinically-equivalent dose that would minimize the amount
of drug waste. Provider validation has been excellent to date, with
nearly 50 percent of providers agreeing to the use of more efficient
vials.
For over 14 years, Magellan Rx has delivered cost-effective and
leading-edge strategies for medical benefit drug management, offering
flexible solutions that can also operate outside of the traditional
payer-PBM relationship. Health plans can plug in to the extensive
clinical expertise and experience at Magellan Rx by delegating specialty
and medical drug management services while retaining a separate PBM.
Through innovative, targeted initiatives like the drug wastage program,
combined with other clinical solutions such as utilization management,
site of service, and biosimilar
management, Magellan Rx helps customers reduce their drug spend for
highly complex and costly medical benefit drugs while promoting high
quality care for their members.
“We are focused on reducing cost of care while maintaining a high
quality of care for our members,” said Scott McClelland, vice president
of commercial and specialty pharmacy programs at Florida Blue. “That’s
why we collaborate with Magellan Rx to find solutions, like the drug
waste prevention program, that help curb rising specialty spend on the
medical benefit. The success of this partnership has helped us save
money for our members while ensuring they get the care they need.”
For more on trends in medical drug management, get the latest updates
from the Magellan
Rx Report Spring 2019 Edition.
1. Harris, Gardiner. “Waste in Cancer Drugs Costs $3 Billion a Year, a
Study Says.” The New York Times1 Mar. 2016. Web. 16 April 2019.
2. 2018 Magellan Rx Management Medical Pharmacy Trend ReportTM,
©2019.
About Magellan Rx Management:Magellan
Rx Management, a division of Magellan
Health, Inc., is a full-service, next-generation pharmacy benefit
manager (PBM) that helps our customers and members solve complex
pharmacy challenges by connecting them to the people, technology, and
information they need to make smarter healthcare decisions. As experts
in managing specialty spend both on the prescription and medical
benefit, we are energized by discovering new and better ways to deliver
solutions in today’s complex and rapidly-evolving healthcare
environment, leading people to live healthier, more vibrant lives.
About Magellan Health: Magellan
Health, Inc., a Fortune
500 company, is a leader in managing the fastest growing, most
complex areas of health, including special populations, complete
pharmacy benefits and other specialty areas of healthcare. Magellan
supports innovative ways of accessing better health through technology,
while remaining focused on the critical personal relationships that are
necessary to achieve a healthy, vibrant life. Magellan's customers
include health plans and other managed care organizations, employers,
labor unions, various military and governmental agencies and third-party
administrators. For more information, visit MagellanHealth.com.
(MGLN-GEN)
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190618005318/en/
Source: Magellan Health
Media: Lilly Ackley, ackleyl@magellanhealth.com,
(860) 507-1923
Investors: Joe Bogdan, jbogdan@magellanhealth.com,(860) 507-1910
