Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) are known for the savings they deliver for patients and employers – securing an average of $1,154 in savings per person annually. Less known to many people is the work that PBMs are doing to help patients stay on their prescribed drugs, protect them from medication errors, and avoid dangerous drug interactions.
PBMs sit at a unique point in the health care system. Unlike any single doctor or pharmacy, PBMs can see across a patient’s medication history, past and present. They run instantaneous safety checks that avoid dangerous interactions and save lives. One of the things American patients and families most dislike about our health care system is how fragmented and complex it is; PBMs can make it less disjointed – and safer.
Over the next 10 years, this work will help prevent 1 billion medication errors.
The goal is simple: Stop patients from taking prescriptions that shouldn’t be taken at the same time.
One PBM CEO told Congress that “every prescription that we process today undergoes 18,000 safety, quality, and benefit checks in less than 1 second.” These identify potential safety concerns, including:
- Dangerous drug-to-drug interactions
- Duplicate prescriptions
- Incorrect or unsafe dosing
- Potential allergic reactions
A doctor may not know what another specialist has prescribed. A pharmacist may not see medications filled at a different pharmacy. PBMs help connect those dots with technology that flags safety alerts in real-time across a comprehensive medication history from multiple providers.
Safety checks also save real money. PBM services across the board equate to $145 billion in total economic value for Americans annually as that research finds “PBM drug utilization reviews and checks for unsafe interactions both help reduce premiums while improving patient health.”
For patients, this work often goes unseen, but the impact is enormous. Every safety check, every flagged interaction, and every prevented error represents a patient protected from harm. PBMs put patient safety and well-being at the forefront of everything they do.
Learn more about how PBMs improve patient care HERE.
