Pharmacy benefit management companies: Dimensions of performance

Research on pharmacy benefit management companies focuses on descriptive ac counts of the organizations and the scope of their services. This review pr ovides a critical analysis of publicly available research on contemporary i ssues surrounding the operations and effects of pharmacy benefit management companies. There has been very little systematic, empirical research on th ese issues; major questions concerning the impact of pharmacy benefit manag ement companies on quality, costs, and patient outcomes remain unanswered. We analyze what is known and what needs to be known, and we explore major r esearch challenges that lie ahead in the assessment of the pharmacy benefit management company's role in the health care system and in improving the p ublic's health.