Pharmacotherapy after myocardial infarction: disease management versus usual care.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effectiveness of a disease management (DM) program compared with usual care on utilization of and adherence to key evidence-based therapies (angiotensin-converting enzyme [ACE] inhibitors/angiotensin II receptor blockers [ARBs], beta-blockers, and statins) after hospital discharge for patients with myocardial infarction (MI) in a managed care organization.


METHODS
Retrospective case-control cohort.


METHODS
Members were included if they were 18 years of age or older and had any medical claims for hospitalization for MI, defined as International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification, codes 410.xx, from January 1, 2002, to December 31, 2002. The index date was the first date of discharge for members with an MI diagnosis. Members were categorized into the active group (automatically enrolled in the DM program) or the control group (not enrolled in the program because their employer group did not purchase the benefit). Pharmacy claims were obtained for 12 months after the index date for ACE inhibitors, ARBs, beta-blockers, and statins.


RESULTS
The study cohort included 250 members in the active group and 137 members in the control group. There were no statistical differences in utilization or time to first prescription fill of ACE inhibitors, ARBs, beta-blockers, and statins between the DM and usual care groups. Adherence to each of these therapies, as measured by medication possession ratio, was not statistically different between the 2 groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Compared with usual care, participation in the DM program did not improve ACE inhibitor, ARB, statin, or beta-blocker utilization or adherence in members post-MI.
Chan
Vicky
V
School of Pharmacy, University of Maryland, Baltimore, USA.
Cooke
Catherine E
CE
D002985:Clinical Protocols; D015331:Cohort Studies; D019468:Disease Management; D004358:Drug Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008329:Managed Care Programs; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012189:Retrospective Studies