Evaluating Patient Preferences for Different Incentive Programs to Optimize Pharmacist-Provided Patient Care Program Enrollment.

BACKGROUND: Employers have increased efforts to engage employees in health and wellness programs. Providing employees with incentives to participate in these programs has been shown to improve overall enrollment and engagement. One program that has had challenges with enrollment and engagement is medication therapy management (MTM).

OBJECTIVES: To (a) determine how individuals evaluate different financial incentives to improve participation in an MTM program and (b) measure the effect of participant characteristics on incentive preference.

METHODS: This study was composed of a paper-based survey administered to participants after focus group sessions. Participants included MTM-eligible beneficiaries from 2 employer groups and included MTM-naive and MTM-experienced participants. Incentive preference was measured based on 3 bipolar scales that compared 3 incentives: $100 gift certificates, $8 copay reduction for 6 months, and $100 added to paycheck.

RESULTS: A total of 72 participants completed the survey: 34 participants were MTM experienced, and 38 were MTM naive. Overall participant preference reporting resulted in inconsistencies. Copay reduction was preferred to a gift certificate (55.6% vs. 37.5%); money in paycheck was preferred over copay reduction (48.6% vs. 40.3%); and gift certificates were preferred over money in paycheck (56.9% vs. 22.2%). However, subgroup analysis resulted in a more consistent preference reporting, with MTM-experienced participants consistently preferring copay reduction over gift certificates (67.6% vs. 23.5%) and money in paycheck (55.9% vs. 29.4%). MTM-naive participants preferred a gift certificate over copay reduction (51.4% vs. 44.7%) and cash in paycheck (68.4% vs. 23.7%).

CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that gift certificates were preferred by MTM-naive participants, which supports the use of gift certificates as an incentive for MTM-naive patients to enroll in an MTM program. Conversely, the use of a copay reduction program was preferred by MTM-experienced participants, suggesting that it may be ideal for participants already enrolled in an MTM program. The results suggest the potential value of using multiple forms of incentives to attract MTM-naive and experienced beneficiaries.

DISCLOSURES: No outside funding supported this study. The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose. All authors contributed to study concept and design. Cernohous and Vaidyanathan collected the data, and Tomaszewski took the lead in data interpretation, along with Cernohous. The manuscript was written and revised primarily by Tomaszewski, along with Cernohous and Vaidyanathan.