This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related articles  • Similar articles in JAMA  Topic Collections  • Aging/ Geriatrics  • Patient-Physician Relationship/ Care  • Treatment Adherence  • Drug Therapy  • Adherence  • Drug Therapy, Other  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

To the Editor: The analysis of the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey by Dr Madden and colleagues¹ reported an overall decrease in cost-related medication nonadherence (CRN) following implementation of Medicare prescription drug plans. The authors stated that it is crucial to identify specific qualities of Medicare prescription drug plans that contributed to decreases in CRN.

No reference was made to the provision of medication therapy management, a service required by Medicare that is intended to improve medication use. Medication therapy management is available to patients with multiple chronic illnesses who are taking multiple medications with an expected annual medication expenditure of at least $4000.² The authors noted that of patients included in the analysis, those with 4 or more morbidities did not experience significant decreases in CRN.¹ This group of patients would likely gain the most benefit from effective medication therapy management due to increasingly complex medication regimens.

Many Medicare prescription . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Alexander B. Guirguis, PharmD
aguirgui@utmem.edu

Michelle M. Zingone, PharmD
College of Pharmacy, Knoxville Campus
University of Tennessee
Knoxville

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

RELATED ARTICLES

Medication Therapy Management and Cost-Related Medication Nonadherence—Reply
Stephen B. Soumerai and Jeanne Madden
JAMA. 2008;300(10):1130-1131.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Cost-Related Medication Nonadherence and Spending on Basic Needs Following Implementation of Medicare Part D
Jeanne M. Madden, Amy J. Graves, Fang Zhang, Alyce S. Adams, Becky A. Briesacher, Dennis Ross-Degnan, Jerry H. Gurwitz, Marsha Pierre-Jacques, Dana Gelb Safran, Gerald S. Adler, and Stephen B. Soumerai
JAMA. 2008;299(16):1922-1928.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Effect of a Pharmacy Care Program on Medication Adherence and Persistence, Blood Pressure, and Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Jeannie K. Lee, Karen A. Grace, and Allen J. Taylor
JAMA. 2006;296(21):2563-2571.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT