Express Scripts Flattens the Trajectory of the Diabetes Epidemic with SafeGuardRx Diabetes Care Value® Program

- In its first year, the Express Scripts Diabetes Care Value program delivered nearly $43 million savings for plans; reduced heart attack risk in 15 percent of patients

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Express Scripts

Oct 03, 2018, 08:08 ET

ST. LOUIS, Oct. 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Express Scripts (NASDAQ: ESRX) released new data today showing significantly improved clinical outcomes and reduced drug spending for diabetes -- one of America's deadliest and most costly health conditions.

In its inaugural year, the Diabetes Care Value^® program, part of the technology-supported, value-based SafeGuardRx^SM platform, reduced diabetes drug spending by 19 percent - $360 per member per year – for the more than 800 plan sponsors enrolled in the program, delivering a total savings of $42.6 million in 2017.

In addition, Express Scripts diabetes specialist pharmacists, using advanced clinical analytics, improved compliance with recommended treatment guidelines by starting an additional 15 percent of enrolled patients at risk for heart attack or stroke on statin therapy. If all Express Scripts plans were to similarly increase statin use among their members with diabetes for better cholesterol control, they could prevent an estimated 13,000 heart attacks over the next 10 years.

"By combining specialized diabetes pharmacy care with benefit strategies, such as utilization management and quality pharmacy networks, we are tackling the diabetes dilemma in ways others simply cannot," said Glen Stettin, M.D., Express Scripts Chief Innovation Officer. "Our SafeGuardRx clinical solutions provide the highest level of clinical care and more affordable healthcare benefits while helping to ensure our clients, who pay the majority of the cost of treatment, get the most value from the medicines their members take for this far too prevalent and devastating condition."

According to Diabetes Dilemma: U.S. Trends in Diabetes Medication Use, a research report published by Express Scripts last year, diabetes has been the most expensive traditional therapy class for our client's pharmacy plans for six consecutive years, and costing payers about $9,000 more in total medical expenses per person with diabetes, nearly three times more than those without diabetes. These costs will continue to escalate as more than 30 million people in the U.S. currently have diabetes and another 84 million (one-in-three) are prediabetic.

A Holistic Approach to Diabetes Care
Continuing the fight to contain costs and enhance clinical care for patients with diabetes, earlier this year Express Scripts enhanced the Diabetes Care Value program with two patient engagement tools:

Active and connected blood sugar monitoring that allows Express Scripts diabetes pharmacists to track and analyze blood glucose readings to provide proactive and meaningful patient interventions.
The Mango Health mobile platform, powered by Express Scripts, which combines personalized messaging and reminders, innovative technology, gamification features and incentive rewards to promote adherence and adoption of better behaviors that can lead to improved health.

These advanced capabilities are components of a comprehensive program that currently leverages a novel quality-based pharmacy network of more than 10,000 pharmacies nationwide, and whole-patient clinical consulting and care from Express Scripts diabetes specialist pharmacists.

SafeGuardRx Solutions
Using data and technology in innovative ways to facilitate the most appropriate and effective treatments, provide high-touch clinical support for patients, and apply value-based payment strategies, SafeGuardRx delivers better medication adherence, higher therapy completion rates, greater compliance with clinical guidelines and substantially reduced wasteful healthcare spending. In addition to diabetes, the current suite of condition-specific SafeGuardRx solutions address some of the costliest therapy classes for payers, including cancer, hepatitis C, high blood cholesterol, inflammatory conditions, multiple sclerosis, pulmonary conditions and rare diseases.

"By remaining diligent and continuing to innovate around value-based payment programs for prescription drugs, Express Scripts is turning theory into practice bringing patients the access to the clinical care they deserve, while reducing cost, waste and inefficiencies for payers," Stettin said.

About Express Scripts
Express Scripts is a healthcare opportunity company. Empowered by our legacy as an industry innovator, we dare to imagine – and deliver – a better healthcare system with improved health outcomes and lower costs. From pharmacy and medical benefits management, to specialty pharmacy care and everything in between – we uncover opportunities to make healthcare work better.

Our home base is St. Louis, but our reach extends to millions of Americans across the nation. We stand alongside our clients and partners, collaborating to develop personalized solutions that make a meaningful difference in the lives of those we serve.

We believe healthcare can do more. We are Champions For Better^SM.

For more information, visit Lab.Express-Scripts.com or follow @ExpressScripts on Twitter.

Media Contact:
Jennifer Luddy
201-269-6402
[email protected]

SOURCE Express Scripts