A National Survey on the Prevalence and Impact of Multiple Pharmacy Use in Specialty Pharmacy

NCT05035225 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: IRB00277792
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 401
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Specialty medications often have dispensing restrictions which can be dictated by manufacturer limited distribution strategies, narrow insurance networks, or a combination of both. Unfortunately, this may result in patients being required to use 2 or more pharmacies to fill their prescription medications; this is referred to as multiple pharmacy use (MPU). The investigators' plan is to administer a survey to patients who have been prescribed one or more specialty medications to evaluate the prevalence of MPU in this population as well as to investigate patients' attitudes about MPU and potential factors increasing the likelihood of MPU

Conditions

Health Services Accessibility

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Percentage of Patients using Multiple Pharmacies

  Of all patients consented, the percentage of patients using more than one pharmacy to obtain their medications

  Within one year of study initiation

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Self-reported adherence and barriers

  Within one year of study initiation

• Method of obtaining medications

  Within one year of study initiation

• Experience with obtaining and administering medications

  Within one year of study initiation

Study Arms (1)

Specialty Pharmacy Patient

EXPERIMENTAL

Patients who have been prescribed at least one selected specialty medication

Other: Survey

Interventions

Survey OTHER

Multiple Pharmacy Use Survey

Specialty Pharmacy Patient

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Subjects 18 years of age or older
• English-speakers
• An active patient of a performance institution and ability to provide informed consent to participate with the survey
• Electronically prescribed at least one specialty medication by a performance site provider, which can be either a new or renewed order, within the last 3 months

You may not qualify if:

• Subjects less than 18 years of age
• Non-English speakers
• Patients that cannot or are unwilling to provide consent
• Patients who have not had a new or renewed specialty medication prescription order placed electronically within the last 3 months

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Johns Hopkins University: lead
• University of Illinois at Chicago: collaborator
• University of California, Los Angeles: collaborator
• University of Washington: collaborator
• The Cleveland Clinic: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Johns Hopkins Hospital

Baltimore, Maryland, 21287, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Interventions

Surveys and Questionnaires

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Data Collection; Epidemiologic Methods; Investigative Techniques; Health Care Evaluation Mechanisms; Quality of Health Care; Health Care Quality, Access, and Evaluation; Public Health; Environment and Public Health

Study Officials

• Whisler, PharmD

  Johns Hopkins University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: August 26, 2021
• First Posted: September 5, 2021
• Study Start: July 31, 2023
• Primary Completion: April 15, 2025
• Study Completion: June 30, 2025
• Last Updated: July 23, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-07

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)