Arizona's current cost containing measures, including a wait list, will continue to have an impact on residents, providers, community based organizations, and local communities. Without access to critical prescription drugs, many of our state's low income chronically ill residents will go without life saving medication, posing significant community and individual costs in form of higher rates of illness, loss of productivity, and medical costs. Providers will face a greater burden of increase use of services without the necessary resources to match the need.
Cost controlling measures taken by state officials are not new. However, these options of establishing wait lists, changing clinical and financial eligibility, managing prescription utilization isn't solving the problem.
In moving beyond the unprecedented financial crisis, there are steps that can be taken to address the immediate need and the long term stability of our needy residents.
Where to Get Help
Patient 1st Med Solutions, LLC (Patient 1st) has identified the best strategy that includes advocacy at the state level, and creating working partnerships with pharmaceutical companies' drug assistance programs, which can be the best solution to address the gap between a great number of needy patients and meeting their need.
Patient 1st is a prescription medication and healthcare advocacy organization that connects low-income uninsured and underinsured families to patient assistance programs (PAP) offered by pharmaceutical companies who manufacture the critical prescription medications.
The purpose of the turnkey program is to provide a single point of access to over 2,500 medication treatments that prevent health deterioration of those living with chronic and life-threatening diseases.
Patient 1st's comprehensive advocacy services make a substantial and an affordable contribution to bridge the existing gap between the programs who offer no-cost or low-cost medication assistance and those in need of them.
Private Practice and Health Centers
While recognizing their high value to patients, private practices and health centers reported that the PAPs are administratively burdensome to access, due to extensive paperwork burden and difficulties obtaining all required documentation for needy patients. Typically, physicians do not have the time to assist their patients in accessing the programs.
The Solution
The Results
To achieve better care, better health, lower prescription drug costs, and better patient outcomes.
Patient Outcomes:
- Pave our communities' way for increased medical compliance.
- Enable communities to comply with their physicians' therapy/regimen to manage their disease(s) and improve their health.
- Offer the opportunity to reduce and/or eliminate costly Emergency Room (ER) visits.
- Provide access to low-cost or no-cost prescribed medication for a small monthly administrative fee of $10.
- Restore our communities' dignity by enabling them to afford the program and keep them from getting sick.
- Ease physicians' concerns about prescribing brand-name medications that offer a more successful treatment with a better prognosis.
- Assure physicians that their most needy patients will, (1) have access to the prescribed medication(s) as quickly as necessary, and (2) continue to have access to this vital medication for the entire length of their treatment, therefore; greatly improving their overall health regardless of its cost.
- Ensure compliance and less frequent critical conditions.
- Empower patients to better manage their chronic conditions.
- Increase patients' participation and physician collaboration.
Preventive care - such as regular doctor visits and life-saving medicines - is essential to good health. By working together, we can help make these essentials available to all.
