50 Doctors in Worcester Who Filled the Most Medicare Prescription Claims

Saturday, June 13, 2015

Patrick Sargent, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

In 2013, 35 million people in America were prescribed Medicare Part D drugs by 1.3 million prescribers - resulting in 1.4 billion prescriptions filled at a cost of $103.4 billion.

Six hundred and ninety-seven providers in Worcester issued 50 or more Medicare Part D prescriptions. The top fifty physicians and healthcare professionals in Worcester prescribed Medicare Part D drugs 550,000 times in one year under Medicare. The two physicians who prescribed the most filed a combined 95,000 claims at a cost of $5.5 million.

SEE SLIDES BELOW: #50 to #1: Doctors in Worcester Who Filled the Most Medicare Prescription Claims

GoLocalWorcester reviewed data collected by the non-profit, media watchdog group, ProPublica who has been collecting and organizing federal data. The data collected by ProPublica and reviewed and categorized by GoLocalWorcester comes from new federal reporting requirements impacting the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare (CMS).

Who Fills the Most Claims in Worcester?

In Massachusetts, nearly three million claims of Medicare Part D drugs were made by healthcare providers. More than 300,000 prescriptions were filled by only the five doctors with the most medicare prescription claims.

In the top five in the state, coming in at #3 is Worcester’s own Dr. Bogdan Nedelescu with 54,470 claims at a cost of $3.36 million.

Dr. Nedelescu specializes in internal medicine and in 2013, he had 885 patients receiving at least one drug from Part D.

The average number of prescriptions per patient in Massachusetts is 18. For Dr. Nedelescu’s patients the average number was 62 prescriptions per patient.

What Drugs Get Prescribed the Most in MA?

In 2013, over 1.1 million claims were filed for a prescription of Lisinopril - a drug that treats high blood pressure and heart failure and is used in the first few days following a heart attack. In the course of the year, this drug alone cost nearly $8.7 million across the Commonwealth.

The most expensive drug in Massachusetts in 2013 was Abilify. This drug was claimed over 95,000 times and cost $69 million in 2013. Other expensive,well-advertised drugs, included Advair ($59 million), Crestor ($38.5 million) and Cymbalta ($36.6 million).

In its report, "One Nation, Under Sedation: Medicare Paid for Nearly 40 Million Tranquilizer Prescriptions in 2013", ProPublica's Charles Ornstein writes, "A worrisome aspect of the newly released data is that some doctors appear to be prescribing benzodiazepines and narcotic painkillers to the same patients, increasing the risk of misuse and overdose. The drugs, paired together, can depress breathing."

ProPublica lists Alprazolam (Xanax), Lorazepam (Ativan), Clonazepam (Klonopin), Diazepam (Valium), and Temazepam (Restoril) as the the most-prescribed benzodiazepines in 2013 across the U.S.

In Massachusetts, these benzodiazepines prescriptions ranked this way:

1. Lorazepam (Ativan) - 387,507 claims filled (Total cost of $3.2 million)
2. Clonazepam (Klonopin) - 321,211 ($2.5 million)
3. Alprazolam (Xanax) - 183,877 claims filled ($1.4 million)
4. Diazepam (Valium) - 98,973 ($797,302)
5. Temazepam (Restoril) - 21,441 ($404,744)

Where In MA are Most Prescriptions Sold?

According to Healthgrove.com, "At $9.04 Billion, Massachusetts is ranked 40th in America for its total Medicare costs. This cost is distributed among 838,658 medicare beneficiaries which amounts to $10,780 per person. Controlling for differences in payment rates for individual services across the country, standardized costs are $8,931 per person. Further adjusting for risk, Medicare in Massachusetts typically costs the government $9,233 per person, 2.0% lower than the national average."

Suffolk County leads the way in Massachusetts, with a whopping 36.35 prescriptions per Medicare beneficiary. It's followed by Worcester County, with 22.49 prescriptions per beneficiary.

This is the most recent data available as of April 30th, 2015. Medicare prescription data is through the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan (Part D) only. The number of beneficiaries per county is the total number of persons enrolled in Medicare in that county. Over 70% of all people enrolled in Medicare are enrolled in Part D.

Medicare Pt. D Prescriptions Per Medicare Beneficiary | HealthGrove

50 Doctors in Worcester Who Filled the Most Medicare Prescription Claims

SEE SLIDES BELOW: #50 to #1: Doctors in Worcester Who Filled the Most Medicare Prescription Claims

Who Fills the Most Claims in Worcester?

What Drugs Get Prescribed the Most in MA?

Where In MA are Most Prescriptions Sold?

Related Slideshow: #50 to #1: Doctors in Worcester Who Filled the Most Medicare Prescription Claims

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