Pharmacy resident involvement in prior-authorization drug request adjudication

Purpose. Results of a study to determine economic outcomes of pharmacy residents' involvement in prior-authorization drug request (PADR) adjudication within a Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare system are reported. Methods. A retrospective review was conducted to identify PADRs adjudicated by pharmacy residents under a preceptor's supervision during the 2015-16 residency year. Only PADRs that were not approved as submitted (i.e., only those requiring formulary intervention) and that met other inclusion criteria were included in the analysis. Prior-authorization requests and adjudication decisions were characterized, and cost savings resulting from those decisions were calculated. Results. Of the total of 752 PADRs adjudicated by 6 pharmacy residents during the study period, 42 met the inclusion criteria. About 90% of included PADRs were categorized as general medicine requests, and 9.5% were for oncology medications. The most common rationale for PADR nonapproval (cited in 60% of requests) was the availability of a preferred formulary alternative; the remainder of nonapprovals were due to medication safety concerns (e.g., contraindication to therapy, drug interaction potential, likelihood of adverse drug event resulting in patient harm, history of allergy to requested medication). Resident adjudication of PADRs resulted in total direct cost savings of $169,877.53 over the 12-month period, a mean of $4,044.70 per request. Conclusion. Pharmacy residents' involvement in adjudicating PADRs at a VA healthcare system resulted in substantial cost savings over the course of the residency year.