New Study in the Journal of American Medical Directors Association Highlights the Continue Care Rx Program
November 26, 2023A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association highlights the Continue Care Rx Program for medication management, including a 73% reduction in hospitalization rate.
Louisville, Ky. (November 20, 2023) — BrightSpring Health Services (“BrightSpring”), a leading provider of complementary and integrated home and community-based pharmacy and health services for complex populations in need of specialized or chronic care, today announced the publication of a new study in the Journal of American Medical Directors Association (JAMDA). The study, led by William Mills, M.D., BrightSpring’s Senior Vice President of Medical Affairs, highlights the benefits of the Continue Care Rx Program (CCRx), a medication therapy and risk management program to keep patients healthier at home with fewer emergency room and hospital visits and fewer adverse health events.
“The findings from this study are resounding proof of how integrating our company’s dual pharmacy and provider services expertise can uniquely help individuals with complex health care needs stay healthier at home,” said Dr. Mills. “Through CCRx, we are meaningfully improving health care outcomes for the patients we serve and helping them live a better life with innovative and high-touch patient programs.”
Launched by BrightSpring and PharMerica in 2021, CCRx is a novel and effective home-based medication management program that includes patient and home assessments, initial and ongoing medication review and reconciliation, medication synchronization, user-friendly adherence packaging, and direct patient engagement and education by pharmacists and clinicians. The program directly helps patients mitigate the sometimes life-threatening risks of medication nonadherence.
According to Dr. Mills’ research, patients do not take their medicines as prescribed 50 percent of the time, and 33 to 69 percent of medication-related hospital admissions in the United States are due to poor medication adherence1, at a cost of approximately $100 billion a year. Researchers hypothesized that home health patients utilizing the CCRx program may have lower hospitalization rates.
Between May 1, 2021, and March 31, 2023, 113 home health patients whose insurance covered the program were enrolled in CCRx. Home health patients ineligible for the program due to a non-covered pharmacy insurance benefit made up the control group (n=21,304). Hospitalization rates were calculated in both groups.
The results of the study found that by implementing CCRx, home health recipients experienced a hospitalization rate 73.1 percent lower than those in the control group.
“CCRx can help our industry address the rising cost of medication-related hospital admissions and bolster patients’ medication adherence levels—all of which will lead to better health outcomes,” said Dr. Mills. “Medication management is foundational and a critical service for individuals with complex care and home health needs.”
“I am proud of the work BrightSpring is doing to find and deliver innovative solutions to improve health outcomes and quality of life for so many people with real and important needs,” said Jon Rousseau, BrightSpring President and CEO. “Medication challenges and non-adherence are a leading cause of emergency room visits and hospitalizations in the U.S., for which we have a customized and proven solution with dramatically positive results available to any patient nationwide. The successful CCRx study is another example of the very positive quality results achieved through our services and by combining BrightSpring’s home health care and medication management solutions for a better outcome.”
Read more about the study and outcomes here.