A new study suggests that the introduction of a real-time prescription benefit tool did not lead to meaningful changes in prescription spending or medication use among Medicare Advantage beneficiaries during its first year of implementation.
The analysis, published in JAMA Network Open, examined more than 2.8 million beneficiaries and compared patients treated with access to the tool to those without it. The tool, integrated into EHRs in 2019, helps provide clinicians with real-time cost and coverage information at the point of prescribing.
Despite hopes that the tool would lower out-of-pocket costs and increase prescription adherence by guiding prescribers toward lower cost alternatives, the study found no significant difference in total prescription spending, out-of-pocket costs or number of prescription fills between the two groups.
