Race and ethnicity, age, sex, and language preference were associated with disparities in mail-order pharmacy utilization rates, according to a poster presentation at AMCP 2023.

“Previous studies have shown reduced health care costs, improved medication adherence, and reduction of physical burden associated with use of mail-order pharmacy,” researchers said. “However, limited studies exist evaluating characteristics and disparities of mail-order use based on patient and prescription dispensing data, especially in the period following COVID-19.”

For their retrospective study, researchers analyzed data from Kaiser Permanente Northern California members who filled prescriptions at outpatient pharmacies affiliated with the managed care organization between March 2020 and December 2020. Researchers conducted logistic regression analyses to estimate the odds of using mail-order, depending on members’ demographic data and total prescription count.

The data represented 2.6 million members, of which 1.5 million (58.6%) used mail-order pharmacy at least once during the study period. 

Mail-order pharmacy was most likely to be utilized if patients were aged 65 years or older (odds ratio (OR) 1.51, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.48 to 1.53, compared to age 36 to 64), were female (OR 1.39, CI 1.38 to 1.39, compared to male), or filled more than 12 prescriptions (OR 1.38, CI 1.37 to 1.39, compared to prescription count 6 to 12).

However, the following characteristics were associated with the least likelihood of mail-order pharmacy use:

• total prescription count of 1 to 5 (OR 0.32, CI 0.31 to 0.32, compared to prescription count 6 to 12);
• Black race (OR 0.42, CI 0.41 to 0.42, compared to White);
• age less than 18 years (OR 0.42, CI 0.41 to 0.42, compared to age 36 to 64); and
• Spanish as preferred language (OR 0.46 CI, 0.45 to 0.47, compared to English).

“There are significant disparities in mail-order utilization rates based on race/ethnicity, sex, age, and language preference,” researchers concluded, adding that their findings can inform efforts to educate and expand mail-order pharmacy use among specific populations.

Reference:
Le C, Pham C, Niu F, Delate T, Le K, Hui R. Evaluation of patient characteristics associated with the use of mail-order pharmacy. J Manag Care Spec Pharm. 2023;29(10-a suppl):S1-S137. https://www.jmcp.org/pb-assets/Poster%20Abstract%20Supplements/AMCP2023_PosterAbstractSupplement_0317-1679318682267.pdf