Ms. Lauren Denz reports

CATAMARAN'S SECURE GENERATES MORE THAN 70-PERCENT REDUCTION IN COMPOUND MEDICATION SPEND

Catamaran Corp.'s safe and effective compound use reassurance effort (SECURE) reduced spending on compound medication for its clients by more than 70 per cent over one year, while also protecting patients from common risks associated with this drug category. As one the first programs of its kind, Catamaran's SECURE offers clients a robust menu of services aimed at addressing compound safety and cost concerns, while still ensuring reasonable access to, and reimbursement for, these medications when clinically appropriate.

As an example of the strategy in play, an employer client with more than 40,000 members implemented SECURE program elements, including rigorous prior authorization criteria, exclusion of compound kits and lower price limitations, to help manage their rising compound drug utilization and costs. With these protocols in place, the client achieved nearly $290,000 in savings year over year, even with an 18-per-cent increase in compound claims volume during the same time period.

"Through SECURE, we have achieved significant savings for our clients by ensuring appropriate use, as well as safety and cost-effectiveness, of compound medications -- a hot topic in health care today," said Dr. Sumit Dutta, MD, MBA, senior vice-president and chief medical officer. "Compound medications play a critical role in helping patients with certain conditions get and stay healthy, but due to the nature of how they are produced, strict protocols need to be in place to ensure safety and cost-efficiency."

Catamaran's clients can elect to adopt a wide array of SECURE elements, based on their specific needs and member population. Some of these elements include: rigorous prior authorization criteria, lower maximum dollar thresholds, step therapy, enhanced drug utilization review, kit exclusions, select bulk chemical exclusions, standardized claims submission and billing, and robust analytics and reporting.

SECURE also includes the industry's first network compound credentialling program (NCCP), which utilizes a credentialling program to validate that the highest quality and safety standards are adhered to when medications are compounded for Catamaran's members. The NCCP also employs a pricing management strategy to ensure that high standards of reasonableness are upheld from pharmacy to pharmacy when it comes to pricing compounded products.

SECURE results were recently featured in Catamaran's 2015 Informed Trends report and will be presented in a Catamaran Insight Series webinar on April 30, 2015, at 12:30 p.m. ET. Interested attendees can register.