Workers' compensation insurance writers saw total pharmacy spending per injured worker in 2009 rise 6.5 percent, according to a report by a risk management services firm.
The report by the Tampa, Fla.-based PMSI–"2010 Annual Drug Trends Report"–found that a 4.7 percent increase in prescription prices and a 1.7 percent net change in utilization were responsible for the growth in total pharmacy spending.
The main influence driving prescription drug prices was a 6.3 percent rise in the Average Wholesale Price, the report noted, while the utilization change was related primarily to a 2.2 percent increase in the days of supply per prescription.
In 2008, the days of supply per prescription was 27.6, compared to 28.2 days in 2009, according to the report.
The report also noted that the average age of workers' comp claims decreased 1.2 percent in 2009 to 4.7 years, primarily because of an increase in the volume of new claims over 2008.
In addition, the report found that, similar to PMSI studies from previous years, more than 75 percent of the total drug spending in workers' compensation was associated with medications used for the treatment of acute or chronic pain.
On a positive note, the study found that the use of narcotic analgesics for the treatment of new injuries fell by 7.8 percent, indicating that such prescriptions are being used less often as "first-line agents to control pain," according to PMSI.
PMSI said its findings in the report came from analyzing more than five million retail and mail order pharmacy transactions from 2007 to 2009.
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