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Electronic Prescribing System May Encourage Physicians To Choose Lower-cost Drugs
Colleagues,
As previously transmitted to members of the MedTechIQ "Telemedicine" group...
As reported in Science Daily...Clinicians using an electronic prescribing system appear more likely to prescribe lower-cost medications, reducing drug spending, according to a new report.
"Prescription drug costs account for a significant proportion of medical spending and have been increasing rapidly," the authors write as background information in the article. One method for encouraging use of lower-cost medications is a tiered copayment system. Insurers identify preferred medications, such as generic drugs, and designate them "tier 1" with the lowest copayment. Moderately priced brand-name medications may be designated second-tier and assigned a higher copayment, and third-tier drugs represent expensive brand-name medications for which generic alternatives are available and have the highest copayment.
The study authors studied an electronic prescribing (e-prescribing) system designed to address this issue. Using 18 months of data, the researchers compared the change in proportion of prescriptions for the three tiers before and after e-prescribing began, and also compared the prescription habits of clinicians using the e-prescribing system to those of controls.
E-prescriptions of tier 1 medications increased 6.6 percent. Based on average medication costs for private insurers, the researchers estimate that using such an e-prescribing system at this rate could result in savings of $845,000 annually per 100,000 insured patients filling prescriptions.
This study was supported by a grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and a career development grant from the National Institutes of Health.
Read on at: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081208180244.htm
ENJOY!
CC
As previously transmitted to members of the MedTechIQ "Telemedicine" group...
As reported in Science Daily...Clinicians using an electronic prescribing system appear more likely to prescribe lower-cost medications, reducing drug spending, according to a new report.
"Prescription drug costs account for a significant proportion of medical spending and have been increasing rapidly," the authors write as background information in the article. One method for encouraging use of lower-cost medications is a tiered copayment system. Insurers identify preferred medications, such as generic drugs, and designate them "tier 1" with the lowest copayment. Moderately priced brand-name medications may be designated second-tier and assigned a higher copayment, and third-tier drugs represent expensive brand-name medications for which generic alternatives are available and have the highest copayment.
The study authors studied an electronic prescribing (e-prescribing) system designed to address this issue. Using 18 months of data, the researchers compared the change in proportion of prescriptions for the three tiers before and after e-prescribing began, and also compared the prescription habits of clinicians using the e-prescribing system to those of controls.
E-prescriptions of tier 1 medications increased 6.6 percent. Based on average medication costs for private insurers, the researchers estimate that using such an e-prescribing system at this rate could result in savings of $845,000 annually per 100,000 insured patients filling prescriptions.
This study was supported by a grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and a career development grant from the National Institutes of Health.
Read on at: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081208180244.htm
ENJOY!
CC
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