RETROSPECTIVE DRUG UTILIZATION REVIEW AND THE BEHAVIOR OF MEDICAID PRESCRIBERS - AN EMPIRICAL MARGINAL ANALYSIS

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effectiveness of dru g utilization review (DUR) letter intervention on reducing the cost of medications under Medicaid. The target drugs in this study were six a ntiulcer agents prescribed for Alabama Medicaid recipients. The study group consisted of 100 prescribers who received DUR intervention. A to tal of 3776 prescribers who did not receive DUR intervention served as the comparison group. Using an interrupted time series design, these 3876 prescribers were studied before and after the implementation of t he DUR program. The study found that prescribers' behavior changed aft er the DUR letters were sent out, resulting in a reduction in the aver age marginal days of drug therapy and drug reimbursement per recipient . For the target drugs, there was an average savings of $112.73 per pr escriber per month and a total of $136,370.82 savings per month for th e Alabama Medicaid program.