Better education around drug costs needed for doctors
Doctors need better education about the cost of drugs, and where to access cost information, say researchers.
In a recent systematic review, literature databases were searched for
surveys in which doctors, trainees or medical students were asked to
estimate the cost of pharmaceuticals. Of the 24 articles included in
the final analysis, only 31 per cent of estimates were within 20 or 25
per cent of the true cost, and less than 50 per cent were accurate.
Most studies were conducted in the UK, Canada and the US, and estimation
accuracy was not found to differ between the countries. The researchers
say that the most important factor influencing the accuracy of estimation
was the true cost of the therapy — high-cost drugs were estimated
more accurately than low-cost drugs.
Secondary findings indicate that doctors are aware of their limited knowledge
of drug costs and want more information, but believe that the information
is not accessible.
The researchers say that future research should focus on programmes to
provide basic cost education, and cost information should be integrated
into point-of-care prescribing support.
“Due to expenses, audit-feedback
and education would likely be most efficient if targeted on high-use
drugs that have low-cost alternatives”, they say (PLoS Medicine 2007;4:1486). |
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