DEERFIELD, Ill. — Research from Walgreen Co. finds that HIV patients are more likely to be medication-adherent when they use one of the company’s HIV-specialized pharmacies.

In two separate studies presented at the recent Cell-Lancet conference “What Will It Take to Achieve an AIDS-Free World?” in San Francisco, researchers found that patients using Walgreens HIV pharmacies not only stuck to their medications for the disease better than patients at other Walgreens pharmacies, they also had higher adherence rates for medications prescribed for related problems such as serious mental illness.

“Medication adherence is vital to maintaining optimal health for patients with the HIV virus,” Walgrens senior director of clinical outcomes and analytics Janeen DuChane says. “Poor medication adherence can lead to treatment failure, resistance to therapy and increased mortality and is one of the greatest and most costly barriers in treating illness today. By developing specialized patient support programs, we can improve adherence for HIV patients, better serve HIV populations and reduce medical costs.”

In examining the differences in medication adherence for patients using Walgreens HIV-specialized pharmacies and those using other Walgreens pharmacies for their antiretroviral therapies, researchers found that the mean proportion of days covered for patients using the HIV-specialized sites was significantly higher.