(1004) Assessment of Primary Medication Non-adherence and Unclaimed Prescriptions at Two College Health Pharmacies

Objectives: The objective of this study is to evaluate characteristics of unclaimed prescriptions at two college health pharmacy locations to identify contributors to primary medication non-adherence. Unclaimed prescriptions can cost a pharmacy and the patient in several ways. Unclaimed prescriptions are still received and prepared by the pharmacy, using manpower and time in workflow. For patients, unclaimed prescriptions can lead to medication nonadherence and gaps in therapy. College students are a group of interest when considering medication non-adherence and unclaimed prescriptions. Many large universities have some form of student health services available on campus, with pharmacies often integrated into these services. For many of these students, they may be navigating healthcare access on their own for the first time. In addition, college health pharmacies serve a younger population with different disease states and conditions compared to traditional community pharmacies. Current data exists that examines unclaimed prescriptions throughout a variety of pharmacy types. In terms of college health pharmacies, one study examined the characteristics and frequency of unclaimed prescriptions. This study identified the most common medication classes and how often prescriptions went unclaimed in the college population. However, there is still a lack of understanding of factors that contribute to unclaimed medications in this population

Methods: A retrospective review will be conducted to evaluate pharmacy prescription data within two college health pharmacies located on the same campus at a public university in the southeastern United States. Unclaimed prescriptions will be defined as a prescription received and filled by the pharmacy, but not picked up by the patient within a 7-day period. Characteristics will be assessed for each included prescription, including: 1) type of prescription (new vs. refill), 2) prescription cost (copay), 3) site of prescriber (on-campus vs. off-campus), 4) medication class of the prescribed drug, 5) prescription insurance on file at the pharmacy, and 6) patient contact method on file. Using the pharmacy dispensing software, prescriptions which were received by the pharmacy but never dispensed to the patient between August 1, 2023, to October 31, 2023 will be identified. Prescriptions will be included in the analysis if they were received by the pharmacy, either electronically, by facsimile, telephone, or hardcopy, processed and filled, but never picked up by the patient and later returned to stock. Prescriptions which were returned to stock, but then later reprocessed and filled by patient request, prescriptions which were transferred to another pharmacy, or nonprescription medications covered by the athletics department will be excluded. A patient with unclaimed prescriptions at both pharmacies will also be excluded. Descriptive statistics will be utilized to evaluate characteristics of the unclaimed prescriptions. Comparative statistics will be employed to compare characteristics of unclaimed prescriptions between the two pharmacies. Type of prescription, site of prescriber, classification of prescription, and if insurance and contact method were on file at the pharmacy will be compared utilizing a fisher’s exact test. The associated copay between groups will be evaluated utilizing a t-test.

Results: Institutional review board approval is anticipated October 2023. Data collection and analysis will occur between November 2023 and February 2024.

Conclusions: The goal of this study is to identify common characteristics of unclaimed prescriptions, which may lead to identification of barriers to medication access. Once identified, a future business plan may be utilized to implement increased access to prescription medications by students. It is known that pharmacists can have a large impact on medication nonadherence, however within this unique population more evidence is needed to determine effective interventions and contributors to medication nonadherence.