Variations in prescribing practices for novel antipsychotic medications among veterans affairs hospitals

This study examined prescribing practices for antipsychotic medications at 13 Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers and whether patients' sociodemogra phic characteristics were associated with receiving novel agents. Automated pharmacy data were used to identify 599 patients who had been diagnosed as having schizophrenia and who had received a prescription for an antipsycho tic medication after their last discharge from a VA medical center in 1997. Novel antipsychotics were found to have been prescribed for almost half of the patients (47 percent). In logistic regression analysis, significant va riations in prescription of novel agents were found among the facilities an d among ethnic groups. The results of this study suggest that prescribing p ractices are influenced by both facility and patient characteristics.