About Formulary
Recently you may have heard about formularies. Formularies have
been used in hospitals for many years. Many health plans utilize
them and most recently some medical groups have started relying
on formularies. What is a formulary, how does it work and how
will it affect you are just some of the questions we would like
to answer for you.
Q: What is a formulary?
A: Simply stated, a formulary is a list
of medications available to your health care provider to use
in your treatment and covered as a prescription drug benefit
for you. Most hospitals have used formularies for years to control
costs while still providing quality medications. Health plans
and even some large medical groups have turned to formularies
to help put a lid on rising medication costs.
Q: Are there different types of formularies?
A: Basically, there are two types of
formularies. An open formulary is a list of medications from
which your health care provider can prescribe. In addition he
or she would also be able to prescribe medications not on the
formulary. A closed formulary allows your doctor to prescribe
from the formulary list. All other medications (called non-formulary)
would not be covered.
Q: Why are formularies necessary?
A: Medication costs continue to rise.
Formularies list those medications which offer the best value
without sacrificing quality of care. Keeping a lid on rising
prescription costs help all of us reduce health care and premium
costs.
Q: Who decides which medications are on the
formulary?
A: Medications are added or deleted from
a formulary only after careful review by a committee of practicing
physicians and pharmacists. This committee, called a pharmacy
and therapeutics committee, has the responsibility of reviewing
new and existing medications. This committee decides which medications
provide quality treatment at the best value.
Q: How is a medication added or deleted from
the formulary?
A: A medication must first demonstrate
safety and effectiveness to be added to a formulary. Only after
this is determined is the cost of the medication considered.
Some medications have similar safety and effectiveness however,
are available at a lower cost. The lower cost medication would
then be placed on the formulary while the higher cost medication
would not.
Q: How does my health care provider know which
drugs are on the formulary?
A: Health plans print their formularies
yearly. Formulary books are distributed to your health care
provider annually. In addition, all changes to the formulary
are communicated to your doctor on a regular basis.
Q: What if my medication is not on the formulary?
A: Formularies usually have listed alternative
medications which often have the same therapeutics action on
your body but, available at a lower cost. If your medication
is not listed on the formulary, ask your doctor or pharmacist
for an alternative.
About Generic Drugs
You've probably been hearing a lot about generic drugs at your
pharmacy. Perhaps, when having a prescription filled, you were
given a generic or asked if you wanted a generic product.
A number of questions and concerns have been raised about
the quality of generics as compared to brand name products,
and you wonder whether or not you should take them. Following
are answers to some of the more commonly asked questions regarding
generic pharmacy products. We hope this will answer most of
your questions and many concerns you may have regarding generic
drugs.
Q: What is a generic drug?
A: A new drug is given two names. One
is the generic or chemical name. The other is the brand name,
which is what the manufacturer chooses to call the product.
Every drug has a generic name to describe its chemical makeup. |
