Outpatient medication assistance program in a rural setting.

PURPOSE: Efforts to provide medication assistance to the rural poor in central Louisiana are described. SUMMARY: The Central Louisiana Medication Access Program (CMAP) began functioning in 2001 with the objective of providing medication assistance and medication education to the rural poor in the community. The program serves individuals who use the outpatient clinic at the state-run public hospital in central Louisiana. Patients receive prescription drugs for a variety of chronic conditions, paying only a processing fee of dollar 3 per prescription, with a maximum outlay of dollar 15 per visit. A pharmacist counsels the patients about their medications. The medications are funded both through the program and through assistance programs run by pharmaceutical companies. A total of 5307 patients were enrolled in the CMAP between May 2001 and March 2003, and they received over 140,000 prescriptions at a cost saving to them in excess of dollar 2.5 million. CONCLUSION: The CMAP has been able to provide prescription medications and medication counseling to needy patients in a rural environment at little cost to them.