Prescription Policies May Cause Some Psychiatric Patients to Stop Medications

Some prescription drug prescribing policies may cause schizophrenic patients to stop taking their medication, doctors at Harvard University Medical School conclude. These policies, that require treating physicians to get prior approval before prescribing the latest medications for this devastating illness cause some schizophrenic patients to stop taking their medications and drop out of treatment.

A team of doctors from Harvard Medical School’s Department of Ambulatory care and Prevention studied schizophrenic patients covered by the Medicaid program of the state of Maine and compared them to similar patients in New Hampshire’s Medicaid program. Physicians treating such patients in Maine were required to get prior authorization before prescribing the latest medications. The Harvard research team found that the Maine patients were 29 percent more likely to stop or disrupt treatment than were similar patients in New Hampshire, where there was no prior approval requirement.

In addition, the doctors found that the prior-approval policy didn’t actually save the Maine Medicaid program any money on treatment of its schizophrenic patient population. The rules of the Maine Medicaid program were changed after one year to require an education program for doctors.

Schizophrenia is a chronic mental illness that affects approximately three million Americans. Previous studies have shown that disruptions in antipsychotic medications are likely to lead to exacerbations of the illness, with consequent increases in costs due to hospitalization of these patients.

Source: Health Affairs Online