Patient perspectives of antiretroviral pharmacy services: A cross-sectional cohort study.
PLoS One
; 18(5): e0285694, 2023.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37220118
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) remains the main predictor of sustained HIV virologic suppression for people with HIV (PWH). Mail-order pharmacy services are often offered to patients as an alternative option to traditional pharmacy services. Some payers mandate ART to be dispensed from specific mail-order pharmacies regardless of patient choice complicating ART adherence for patients affected by social disparities. Yet, little is known about patient perspectives regarding mail-order mandates.METHODS:
Eligible patients of the HIV program at University of Nebraska Medical Center with experience receiving ART from both a local and mail-order pharmacy were invited to complete a 20-question survey with three core sections experiences/perspectives on local and mail-order pharmacy settings; pharmacy attributes rankings; and pharmacy preference. Paired t-tests and Mann-Whitney tests were used to compare the agreement scores of pharmacy attributes.RESULTS:
Sixty patients (N = 146; 41.1%) responded to the survey. Mean age was 52 years. Most were male (93%) and White (83%). The majority of participants were on ART for HIV treatment (90%) and 60% were using mail-order pharmacies for their prescription services. Significant scoring differences (p<0.05) were observed for all pharmacy attributes favoring local pharmacies. Refilling ease was the most important attribute noted. More respondents (68%) preferred local pharmacies versus mail-order pharmacies. Payer associated mail-order pharmacy mandates were experienced by 78% with half believing the mandates impacted their medical care negatively.CONCLUSIONS:
In this cohort study, respondents preferred local pharmacies compared to mail-order pharmacy for ART prescription services and noted ease of refilling as the most important pharmacy attribute. Two-thirds of respondents believed mail-order pharmacy mandates negatively affected their health. Insurance payers should consider the removal of mail-order pharmacy mandates to allow patient choice of pharmacy, which may help remove barriers to ART adherence and improve long-term health outcomes.
Texto completo:
1
Bases de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Farmacias
/
Farmacia
/
Servicios Farmacéuticos
Tipo de estudio:
Etiology_studies
/
Incidence_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Prevalence_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Límite:
Female
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Humans
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Male
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Middle aged
Idioma:
En
Revista:
PLoS One
Asunto de la revista:
CIENCIA
/
MEDICINA
Año:
2023
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Estados Unidos