Spotlight on Formulary Management

[F7] Generic Trend Management: Decreasing High Cost Generic Spend by Shifting Utilization

ACPE UAN: 0233-0000-19-048-L04-P | Contact Hours: 1.25 | Activity Type: Knowledge-based

Faculty(s)

• 

  Sara Carruth, PharmD

  Manager, Health Economics and Outcomes
  MedImpact Healthcare Systems, Inc.
  San Diego, California
• 

  Alan Lukazewski, RPh, CDE, CGP

  Director of Clinical Pharmacy
  NeuGen
  Madison, Wisconsin

Moderator(s)

• CS

  Craig S. Stern, RPh, PharmD, MBA

  President
  Pro Pharma Pharmaceutical Consultants, Inc.
  Northridge, California

Generic drugs with extraordinarily high prices continue to make national news and place upward pressure on plan premiums. Payers need timely notification of generic drug cost increases, methods for differentiating high-cost generic drugs and lower-cost alternatives, and management strategies for shifting utilization while minimizing member disruption.

This session will provide an overview of the challenges of a dynamic generic drug marketplace, generic drug cost monitoring methods, high cost generic utilization management strategies, and examples of successful interventions to shift utilization to lower cost alternatives.

Learning Objectives:

At the completion of this activity, participants should be able to:

1. Describe how the dynamic nature of generic price changes presents unique formulary management challenges.
2. List key elements of a generic drug cost monitoring mechanism.
3. Discuss utilization management strategies that successfully transition patients from highly inflated generics to lower cost alternatives.