Pharmaceutical benefit manager

Danzon, Patricia M. 2000. Pharmaceutical Benefit Management An Alternative... 

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (2001). HCFA Study of the Pharmaceutical Benefit Management Industry. Washington, D.C. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. Available at www.cms.hhs.gov/researchers/reports/2001/CMS.pdf. 

H.L. Lipton, L.H. Syed and M.R. Stebbins, Description and potential impact of pharmaceutical benefit management strategies in Medicare-risk HMOs an exploratory study. Presented at Annual Meeting of the Gerontological Society of America, November 22, 1998, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. 

K.A. Schulman, E. Rubenstein, D.R. Abernethy, D.M. Sells and D.P. Suhnasy, The effect of pharmaceutical benefits managers is it being evaluated . Annals of Internal Medicine 124 (1996), 906-913. 

According to 1997 statistics, 92% of HMOs engage a pharmaceutical benefit manager (PBM),... 

Schulman KA, Rubenstein LE, Abernethy DR et al (1996) The effect of pharmaceutical benefit managers is it being evaluated Ann Intern Med 124(10) 906-13. 

Another factor in reducing prices of all drugs that had some form of competition was the rise of the HMO and its pharmaceutical watchdog, the pharmacy benefit manager (PBM). These PBMs create a formulary of approved drugs (drugs for which they would reimburse partially or fully) based on bids from competing companies. 

Formulary systems are an essential tool used in a variety of settings including hospitals, ambulatory clinics, health plans, pharmacy benefit management companies, and government agencies. This tool, if used correctly, promotes rational, clinically appropriate, safe, and cost-effective pharmaceutical care. 

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