DO DRUG COSTS AFFECT PHYSICIANS PRESCRIPTION DECISIONS

Objective. To study the impact of the cost of pharmaceuticals on physi cians' decisions about drug prescription. Design. A simulation protoco l for the treatment of two patients, one with mild and the other with a severe form of urinary tract infection (UTI), was designed. Thirty f amily physicians in outpatient clinics and 30 physicians in the intern al medicine wards of a Community Hospital participated in the project. They had to prescribe treatment for the patients twice: at phase I, w hen the drug cost was unknown, and at phase II, after 2 months, when t he price of the drugs was brought to their attention. The physicians s elected the medication from a list of drugs commonly used for the trea tment of UTIs. Results. Analysis of the findings indicates that an awa reness of drug costs affects prescription decisions among physicians i n hospital wards, whereas family physicians showed a preference for le ss expensive drugs even before they were informed about drug costs. An extrapolation of the results shows that knowledge about the cost of t he drugs usually administered for treatment of UTI, could save at leas t IS 112883 ($34207) a month to Kupat Holim Klalit (KHK) the health in surance institution to which the outpatient clinics and the hospital b elong. Conclusions. When economic aspects of healthcare are considered , information on drug costs may be an important factor in physicians' decision-making processes and for saving pharmaceutical expenses.