Chow Nathan, Snitman Annie, Rafael John, Bui Stephanie, Bennett Kelly, Prabhu Fiona
School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, Texas.
Department of Family and Community Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, Texas.
Proc (Bayl Univ Med Cent). 2022 Jan 18;35(3):319-321. doi: 10.1080/08998280.2021.2022064. eCollection 2022.
The Free Clinic at Lubbock Impact (TFC) is a student-run, volunteer free clinic affiliated with Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, Texas, that provides free weekly health services to the local uninsured patient population. The clinic also helps patients enroll in prescription assistance programs (PAPs) from pharmaceutical companies, which supply eligible patients with certain medications at little or no cost. This study presents a cost savings analysis of TFC patients enrolled in PAPs from February 2019 through February 2020. Cost savings were calculated by matching medication doses and units with the cost per unit for each brand-name medication listed on GoodRx.com at Walgreens pharmacies located in TFC's zip code, 79410. Sixty-one patients received 23 different medications with a total cost savings value of $222,563. Medications were sorted into diabetic, respiratory, and miscellaneous disease categories, for which cost savings totaled $114,110, $60,219, and $48,234, respectively. This study highlights the value of utilizing PAPs at a free clinic to address the barrier of medication cost for uninsured patients in Lubbock, Texas, and surrounding areas.
拉伯克影响免费诊所（TFC）是一家由学生运营的志愿者免费诊所，隶属于德克萨斯州拉伯克市的德克萨斯理工大学健康科学中心，每周为当地未参保患者群体提供免费医疗服务。该诊所还帮助患者注册参加制药公司的处方援助计划（PAPs），这些计划为符合条件的患者提供某些几乎免费或免费的药物。本研究对2019年2月至2020年2月期间参加PAPs的TFC患者进行了成本节约分析。通过将药物剂量和单位与位于TFC邮政编码79410的沃尔格林药店在GoodRx.com上列出的每种品牌药物的单位成本进行匹配来计算成本节约。61名患者接受了23种不同的药物，总成本节约价值为222,563美元。药物分为糖尿病、呼吸系统和其他疾病类别，其成本节约分别总计114,110美元、60,219美元和48,234美元。本研究强调了在免费诊所利用PAPs来解决德克萨斯州拉伯克市及周边地区未参保患者药物成本障碍的价值。
