This article was originally published in a sponsored newsletter.
These days, more than ever, time is a precious commodity. We don’t have a lot of extra time to spend on callbacks from pharmacies or patients, or navigating the complex system of ensuring our patients end up with the medicines that we prescribed for them. One of the reasons I love getting patients off medicines is that it not only reduces their burden and potential side effects, but it also saves our staff time.
Several years ago at my practice, we performed a study where we kept track of the time involved in submitting prior authorizations and following up with pharmacies and patients in regard to medication. We found that when we got a patient off a medication, it saved an average of four and a half minutes of technician time per patient per visit. That’s significant when you add it up.
Ultimately, it costs us money as a practice to prescribe medications. There’s a tremendous amount of time, effort, and financial burden involved in managing medications. And it can make decision-making complicated.
If I see a patient who is getting worse or has fluctuating pressure while on medication, there are many factors to consider. Is the medicine not working or is it a compliance issue? Are they taking it as directed? Do they even have access to their medication? There are burdens such as cost and transportation associated with getting a medication from the pharmacy. Alternatively, micro-invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS) procedures, selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT), or procedural pharmaceuticals remove all those compliance questions that can convolute patients’ situations.
As far as saving time on prior authorizations, some doctors might just say to prescribe generics. It’s true that they are easier to push through, but there are reasons why I prefer to have my patients on brand-name medications. The inactive ingredients in generics can change the way the drug is absorbed, and that’s a big deal when talking about the tolerability of a medication. There can be a lot of variability in formulations if a generic company outsources inactive ingredients. With a condition like glaucoma, you need consistency, and I don’t want my patients on generic substitutions. Therefore, prior authorizations become a necessity.
The bottom line? We’ll always do what’s right for our patients. But getting patients off medications with MIGS procedures, SLT, or procedural pharmaceuticals can ultimately benefit both them and the practice.
