title: The University of North Carolina's Health Care Pharmacy Assistance Progam.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  UNC Health Care has a Pharmacy Assistance Program (PAP) that provides financial assistance to uninsured patients in North Carolina who need prescription medications. Despite significant investment in the program, little is known about the patients accessing it or the specific health care services they use. Our objectives were to describe the PAP population, to examine their use of prescription medications and health services, and to characterize changes in prescription medication use and expenditures from 2009 through 2011.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used a repeated cross-sectional study design, merging prescription claims with health records from Carolina Data Warehouse for Health, to measure use of prescription medications and use of inpatient, outpatient, and emergency department care by PAP participants. Prescription claims were grouped into therapeutic categories. We generated descriptive statistics for key variables to examine health service utilization from 2009 through 2011.
  
  
  RESULTS
  From 2009 through 2011, PAP served 7,180 patients from 81 counties in North Carolina. PAP users received a mean of 23 prescriptions, at an average cost of $754 per recipient per year. An average of $2.93 million per year was spent on the program, with an 8% rise in spending from 2009 to 2011. Inpatient care and emergency department care were utilized by 30% and 31% of PAP users, respectively, and there was minimal change in these rates over 3 years.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Data were limited to medications dispensed through PAP and to health services provided by UNC Health Care.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  With the state's decision to not expand Medicaid, PAP will continue to be an important resource for North Carolina's low income citizens.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina Hospitals and Clinics; Division of Pharmacy Practice and Experiential Education, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: Ginny D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Crisp
authors.affiliation: Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, Yale School of Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
authors.forename: Denise A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Esserman
authors.affiliation: Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: Mary T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Roth
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Policy and Management, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Durham VAMC Center for Health Services Research, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: Morris
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Weinberger
authors.affiliation: Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA. jffarley@unc.edu.
authors.forename: Joel F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Farley
mesh_terms: D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000191:economics*; D005260:Female; D006296:Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D007356:Insurance, Pharmaceutical Services / Q000191:economics*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009657:North Carolina; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D014495:Universities