AllianceRx Walgreens Prime study demonstrates oral oncology split-fill program drives adherence, reduces costs and decreases medication waste

ORLANDO, Fla., March 26, 2019

Walgreens, a parent company of AllianceRx Walgreens Prime, launched the oral oncology split-fill program in 2008, which is now being managed by AllianceRx Walgreens Prime. The program serves to help reduce plan costs, minimize medication waste and provide cost savings to patients and payers.

Under the program, AllianceRx Walgreens Prime may dispense a partial supply — typically 14 to 16 days, as opposed to 28 days — of certain medications to new-to-therapy patients, supporting third-party payer pharmacy benefits. These medications often have high patient discontinuation rates at initiation of therapy due to adverse side effects or disease progression. By reducing the supply of medication dispensed, waste and cost are reduced as medication that will not be used is not dispensed.

"This study demonstrates our oral oncology split-fill program provides increased savings and improved adherence, underscoring our commitment to helping payers reduce pharmacy costs while clinically managing patients," said Rick Miller, vice president, clinical and professional services at AllianceRx Walgreens Prime. "We continue to expand the number of medications available under our split-fill program to support patients and maximize the investments health plans make in their patients."

Rina Shah, vice president, pharmacy operations and specialty at Walgreens, says the split-fill program is an important part of Walgreens' focus on creating partnerships that provide innovative opportunities to better serve customers. "With a split-fill program, providers have a pharmacy partner to help monitor and counsel patients and the flexibility to change doses or medications with minimal waste," says Shah.

The study included 2,363 patients who were new to therapy on an oral oncology split-fill medication between September 2015 and August 2017. Throughout the study, pharmacy staff proactively contacted patients prior to completing the initial dispensed medication to assess how they were tolerating the new medication and identification of patient-reported side effects. The study compared patients with a split-fill option to similar patients without this option, on patient discontinuation rates, patient-reported side effects, estimated pharmacy costs, and potential waste.