Trends in prescription drug utilization and spending for the Department of Defense, 2002-2007

Examine trends in U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) outpatient drug spending and utilization between 2002 and 2007. We analyzed pharmacy claims data from the U.S. Military Health System (MHS), using a cross-sectional analysis at the prescription and patient-year level and measuring utilization in 30-...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Military medicine 2009-09, Vol.174 (9), p.958-963
Main Authors: Devine, Joshua W, Trice, Shana, Spridgen, Stacia L, Bacon, Thomas A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cross-Sectional Studies
Drug Costs - trends
Drug Prescriptions - economics
Drug stores
Drug Utilization Review
Health care expenditures
Humans
Military Personnel
Pharmaceuticals
Prescription drugs
United States
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Summary:Examine trends in U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) outpatient drug spending and utilization between 2002 and 2007. We analyzed pharmacy claims data from the U.S. Military Health System (MHS), using a cross-sectional analysis at the prescription and patient-year level and measuring utilization in 30-day equivalent prescriptions and expenditures in dollars. Pharmaceutical spending more than doubled in DoD, from $3 billion in FY02 to $6.5 billion in FY07. The largest increase occurred in the DoD community pharmacy network, where utilization grew from 6 million 30-day equivalent prescriptions in the first quarter of FY02 to more than 16 million in the last quarter of FY07. The smallest increase in annual spending occurred in FY07 (5.5%), down from a high of 27.5% in FY03. The MHS has experienced rapid growth in pharmaceutical spending since FY02. However, there are signs that growth in pharmaceutical spending may be slowing.
ISSN:0026-4075
1930-613X
DOI:10.7205/MILMED-D-01-2309