Association between dispensing of low-value oral albuterol and removal from Medicaid preferred drug lists.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Oral albuterol has worse efficacy and side effects compared with inhaled albuterol, and thus its use has been discouraged for decades. Drug inclusion or exclusion on formularies have been associated with reductions in low-value care. This study examines dispensing of oral albuterol and inclusion of oral albuterol on state Medicaid drug formularies--Preferred Drug Lists (PDLs). It also evaluates the association between removal of oral albuterol from the PDL and dispensing levels.

Methods

This quasi-experimental study determined oral albuterol inclusion on PDLs and dispensing between 2011 and 2018, using Medicaid program websites and the State Drug Utilization Database. Using a difference-in-differences model, we examine the association between removal of oral albut

SUBMITTER: Volerman A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9044602 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature