Medication Therapy Management Improves Adherence 30% Over Standard of Care for IBD

ATLANTA & LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Curant Health, provider of enhanced medication therapy management and specialty pharmacy services, and Johns Hopkins Medicine’s Meyerhoff Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center revealed today that medication therapy management improves adherence more than 30 percent compared to the standard of care for IBD patients.

Among 110 randomized subjects (24 of which were excluded primarily due to insurance restrictions), 55% of patients in the intervention arm receiving MTM were considered to have improved adherence compared to 25% in both control arms.

Table 1: Adherence Change among Subjects with Baseline and Follow-up Adherence Score (n=73)

The preliminary results of Project A.L.I.V.E. (Adherence and Long-term IBD Value-added Effectiveness) were delivered earlier today by Principal Investigator and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University Dr. Sharon Dudley-Brown and Curant Health Director of Clinical Pharmacy Vickie Andros, PharmD, in a poster presentation at the 2016 American College of Gastroenterology Annual Scientific Meeting.

Systematic review of the literature validates that once this study is completed, it will contain the first reported long term adherence data for CD or UC and the first data published evaluating the impact of MTM on IBD outcomes.

Project A.L.I.V.E. seeks to “implement and evaluate the effectiveness of an Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Medication Therapy Management (MTM) patient fulfillment model compared to standard care in a large university hospital setting.”

According Dr. Dudley-Brown, Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) are chronic, debilitating conditions that can have important economic and clinical implications. In 2004, the annual cost of IBD in the United States was estimated at $1.84 billion. IBD is associated with high morbidity, loss of work productivity and impaired quality of life.

According to the IMS Institute for Health Informatics, medication non-adherence is responsible for more than $200 billion in wasted healthcare spending.

“Project A.L.I.V.E. is well on its way to measuring program value for IBD patients and caregivers with preliminary results showing improved adherence in the treatment arm. We anticipate that our enhanced medication therapy management and patient support services will continue to demonstrate project value through outcomes improvement and impact on cost through a reduction in hospitalizations and ED visits for this patient population,” Andros says . “Continuing to validate our work alongside Dr. Dudley-Brown, her colleagues, and most importantly improving the lives of people suffering from IBD, is central to our mission.”

ABOUT CURANT HEALTH

Curant Health is passionate about improving the lives of chronically ill people nationwide through its innovative medication management program. Specially trained patient care coordinators and pharmacists form the foundation of the program. Regular, intensive interaction with caring Curant Health professionals provides support for patients dealing with the daily challenges of living with chronic conditions.

ABOUT JOHNS HOPKINS MEDICINE

Johns Hopkins Medicine (JHM), headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, is a $6.7 billion integrated global health enterprise and one of the leading health care systems in the United States. JHM unites physicians and scientists of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine with the organizations, health professionals and facilities of The Johns Hopkins Hospital andHealth System.