Formulary Launches Quietly; Focus Shifts to Transition Deadline

California’s new prescription drug formulary, which launched Jan. 1, appears to have caused no more disruption than the related update to the state’s evidence-based treatment guidelines that took effect one month earlier. The formulary fast-tracks authorization for certain drugs by exempting them from prospective utilization review when the prescription is in accordance with recommendations in the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine’s treatment guidelines. The Division of Workers’ Compensation incorporated ACOEM’s guidelines ...