Bianca Chen

I am honored to receive this incentive grant to explore the impact of the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan (M3P) on patient adherence to chronic medications.

Working in retail pharmacy, we often see patients who struggle to pay for their prescription medications, especially at the beginning of the year when their deductible sets in. We can try finding alternative solutions such as using discount cards which may bring down the cost by a few dollars, but this does not go towards the patient’s deductible which can further impact their insurance coverage for other medications later in the year. Too often we see patients turn away, simply unable to afford their medications.

With this project, I hope to see if alternative payment models can help patients better manage their prescription costs and further improve their adherence to important chronic medications. If found beneficial, resources can be allocated towards educating community pharmacists on programs like the M3P, providing them with the skills to identify patients who may benefit from alternate payment plans and educating them on their options. Community pharmacists can become a great and easily assessable resource to patients regarding alternative payment options, ultimately improving patients’ access to medications.