The Journal of Managed Care + Specialty Pharmacy, or JMCP, presented its annual Award for Excellence to Serena Jingchuan Guo, M.D., Ph.D., an assistant professor of pharmaceutical outcomes and policy in the University of Florida College of Pharmacy. The award was established in 2002 and recognizes the best scholarly work in managed care pharmacy from the prior calendar year. JMCP’s editorial advisory group makes nominations from any article published in 2022, and then a committee of board members reviews the nominations to make the final selection.
Guo’s award-winning article, “Underprescribing vs underfilling to oral anticoagulation: An analysis of linked medical record and claims data for a nationwide sample of patients with atrial fibrillation,” was published in December. The research examined oral anticoagulant, or OAC, medication use among patients with atrial fibrillation. OACs can lower the risk of stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation, but not all patients are treated with OACs. After examining a large health care database, Guo determined underprescribing and underfilling are major drivers of low OAC use among atrial fibrillation patients.
An excerpt from the nomination of Guo’s paper highlights the impact of the study: “This article is a great example of rigorous research providing a unique view into underutilization of guideline-recommended medication therapy. The finding that 50% of patients are not prescribed treatment after their diagnosis is surprising and identifies opportunities for managed care to close this gap. This article is worthy of recognition due to its sound methodological approach, use of two complementary data sources, and because it addresses a common clinical challenge.”
“Our study is among the first to dissect the patterns of OAC use regarding prescription writing and prescription filling among patients newly diagnosed with atrial fibrillation,” said Guo. “I am humbly thankful to the Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy team who selected our study for this award. Thank you for motivating me and our team to continue having the highest level of dedication in the field of pharmacy research.”
Guo received the JMCP Award for Excellence at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy Annual Meeting in San Antonio, March 21-24.