HIV-positive patients with comorbid conditions had higher medication adherence when using Walgreens' HIV-specific retail pharmacies than when using other Walgreens retail pharmacies, according to a presentation made by Walgreens at the The Lancet's Cell conference.
Patients using the specialized pharmacies had better medication adherence for their retroviral medication and their medication for associated chronic comorbidities, including mental illness, hypertension and high cholesterol.
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Patients with mental illness using the specialized pharmacy were adherent to retroviral therapy 32.7 percent of the time, while their general pharmacy-using counterparts were adherent to retroviral therapy only 19.4 percent of the time.
Patients on statins and patients on hypertension drugs had more patient days covered at specialized pharmacies than at general pharmacies. For statin patients, specialized pharmacy users had a mean of 83.7 percent covered days, compared to nonspecialized pharmacy users, at 81.3 percent. For patients on hypertension drugs, specialized pharmacy users had an average of 82.6 percent covered days, while nonspecialized users had an average of 79.6 percent covered days.
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