CompPharma released their 16^th annual survey for “Prescription Drug Management in Workers’ Compensation”. The report looks at 2018 data from 31 respondents and a topic of interest this year was transparency in pharmacy pricing.

The top findings from the survey were that overall drug spending dropped by 10.1 percent from 2017 to 2018, mainly due to price reductions from renegotiated contracts or changing pharmacy benefit managers (PBM). The California fee schedule implementation also played a roll in this. There was a 19 percent reduction in opioid spend too, and respondents made more progress curbing initial opioid use versus long-term use.

About 83 percent of participants said they transparency in pharmacy pricing was the top problem they wished their PBM would change. Many respondents felt that the pricing models they received were too complex and the lack of visibility made them uncomfortable with “fairness” of their pricing. Only a handful of respondents received rebate payments, though some said their PB< factored rebates into their brand drug discount. A majority said they would be interested in pricing separating drug costs from value-added services like clinical management.

The report found that patients have been instrumental in reducing unnecessary drug use but as a result their current model is not sustainable. As drug spend decreases PBMS have less to invest in clinical management, analytics and patient outreach.

Read the full report here.