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Pharmaceutical Drugs

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Although pharmaceutical drugs on the whole greatly improve patient outcomes and quality of life when used as prescribed, they are not without their complications. RAND research on pharmaceuticals examines their safety and effectiveness, relevant health economics issues, prescription drug abuse, challenges related to access and adherence, and pharmaceutical regulatory policy.

Report

Alternative Financing Schemes May Be Needed to Pay for Expensive New Medications

Mar 11, 2015

In an era of $1,000-a-pill medications, a new approach may be needed to finance an emerging breed of highly expensive pharmaceuticals and vaccines. Health care could learn from other industries, where it is common for suppliers to encourage investment through approaches such as equipment leases or supplier-financed credit.
Report

Biosimilar Medications Could Create Billions in Health Care Savings

Nov 3, 2014

Introducing competing “biosimilar” versions of complex biologic drugs used to treat illnesses such as cancer and rheumatoid arthritis could cut spending on biologics in the United States by $44 billion over the next decade.

Explore Pharmaceutical Drugs

Report

Improving Care for Schizophrenic Patients Through Personalized Treatment

Access to information on a patient's antipsychotic plasma levels—the amount of drug circulating in the patient's blood—can reduce prescriber uncertainty, resulting in better care and outcomes for schizophrenia patients.

Sep 28, 2017
Journal Article

Association of Reference Pricing with Drug Selection and Spending

Over an 18 month period, reference pricing for drugs was associated with a reduction in employer spending of $1.34 million but an out-of-pocket spending increase of $0.12 million for employees.

Sep 28, 2017
Journal Article

Journal Article

Simulated Effects of Policies to Reduce Diabetes Risk Among Adults With Schizophrenia Receiving Antipsychotics

Policies to promote early diabetes detection among Medicaid patients receiving antipsychotic medication could reduce the rate of diabetes over ten years, but would likely require higher spending.

Sep 28, 2017
Journal Article

Journal Article

A Mixed-Methods Evaluation of an Integrated Medication Management Program and Implications for Implementation

Organizational and environmental factors-such as funding mechanisms-were key to the successful implementation and uptake of a Medication Management Therapy program.

Aug 2, 2017
Journal Article

Journal Article

Using the Electronic Health Record to Understand and Minimize Overuse

Electronic health records represent a key opportunity to address overuse and the high costs of care and to realize benefit from one of the country's major health care investments.

Jul 19, 2017
Report

Report

Modeling the Economic Impact of a California Workers' Compensation Formulary

This report estimates the potential impacts of a California Workers' Compensation formulary in terms of changes in prescription drug use and spending and discusses the potential broader impacts of these changes on the California economy.

Jul 17, 2017
Journal Article

Journal Article

Impact of Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs) on Opioid Utilization Among Medicare Beneficiaries in 10 U.S. States

Implementation of a prescription drug monitoring program in 10 states was associated with a reduction in overall volume of opioid drugs prescribed.

Jun 14, 2017
Journal Article

Journal Article

The Role of Antipsychotic Plasma Levels in the Treatment of Schizophrenia

Antipsychotic plasma levels may be used to guide the management of patients with schizophrenia who exhibit poor response or poor tolerance.

Jun 12, 2017
Journal Article

Journal Article

Beyond Medication Reconciliation: The Correct Medication List

Creating and maintaining a correct medication list for every patient could potentially improve outcomes more than other quality improvement activities.

May 30, 2017
Journal Article

Journal Article

A Randomized Controlled Trial of Rise, a Community-Based Culturally Congruent Adherence Intervention for Black Americans Living with HIV

A community-based, culturally specific intervention improved antiretroviral treatment adherence among Black Americans living with HIV.

May 30, 2017
Commentary

Effects of Removing Maternity Care and Mental Health Treatment from Coverage Requirements

The American Health Care Act passed by the U.S. House of Representatives to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act allows states to waive benefits that the ACA deemed “essential.” Dropping maternity care coverage, for example, would reduce premiums by 5 percent but increase out-of-pocket spending for new mothers.

May 18, 2017
Journal Article

Journal Article

Alcohol Use and Service Utilization Among Veterans in Treatment for Schizophrenia

Veterans with schizophrenia who misuse alcohol are more likely to miss medications and more likely to use illicit drugs.

May 16, 2017
Journal Article

Journal Article

Lessons Learned from an Integrated MTM Program

A community health center in western Massachusetts offers a model of integrated care, in which pharmacists play key roles in decision making and charting.

May 11, 2017
Commentary

Beyond Medication Reconciliation: The Correct Medication List

Primary care clinicians are expected to reconcile a patient's medications at every visit. In practice, this has failed to have a demonstrable effect on patient outcomes. What is needed is not merely a reconciled list, but the correct list.

Apr 21, 2017
Journal Article

Journal Article

The Clinical Pharmacy Specialist: Part of the Solution

Efforts to create high-functioning primary care teams should take advantage of the knowledge and skills of clinical pharmacy specialists

Apr 19, 2017
Multimedia

Funding Considerations in the Fight Against the Opioid Epidemic

Testimony presented before the House Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies on April 5, 2017.

Apr 5, 2017
Testimony

Funding Considerations in the Fight Against the Opioid Epidemic

Recent strategies to combat the opioid epidemic have had some success. But much more research is needed to understand their effectiveness. For pressing funding decisions, policymakers should focus on tactics that address both prescription opioid and heroin use.

Apr 5, 2017
Journal Article

Antibiotics Prescribed as Often During Telemedicine Appointments as In-Person Visits

Patients treated for acute respiratory infections by a doctor on a telephone or live video are as likely to be prescribed an antibiotic as those treated in person. However, patients treated virtually are more often prescribed a broad-spectrum antibiotic, which is concerning because overuse of the drugs increases costs and contributes to antibiotic resistance.

Mar 28, 2017
Journal Article

Journal Article

Prescribing of Clozapine and Antipsychotic Polypharmacy for Schizophrenia in a Large Medicaid Program

Analysis of prescribing habits for treatment of schizophrenia suggests that some clinicians may underprescribe clozapine and overprescribe multiple antipsychotics; addressing such inconsistencies with the evidence base could improve care.

Mar 16, 2017
Journal Article

Journal Article

Screening Tool of Older Person's Prescriptions: Screening Tools to Alert Doctors to Right Treatment Medication Criteria Modified for U.S. Nursing Home Setting

Experts have identified new criteria for assessing the quality of prescribing in nursing homes.

Mar 15, 2017

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RAND Topic:
Pharmaceutical Drugs

Topic Synonyms:
Medicinal Drugs

Research conducted by

RAND Health