High-Cost Medication User Profile

Express Scripts recently released an analysis of prescription drug use among patients with the highest annual medication costs. Here are some key characteristics of patients whose annual costs exceed $100,000:

·         Over 1 in 3 of these patients were being treated for 10 or more different medical conditions.

·         Antidepressant use was more than twice as prevalent as it is in the general population.

·         60% of these patients took 10 or more different medications.

·         Approximately 72% had prescriptions written from at least four prescribers.

·         58% of the population were Baby Boomers, aged 51-70.

·         Men represent 56% of patients with annual prescription costs exceeding $100,000.

Source: Express Scripts, May 13, 2015