Doctors unaware of medicine costs
Doctors have a poor understanding of how much drugs cost, according to a new systematic review.
Researchers undertook a systematic literature search for studies in which
doctors were surveyed about how much they thought drugs cost. Their analysis
(which involved 24 articles) showed that only 31 per cent of estimates
of drug cost were within 20 or 25 per cent of the true cost. Less than
half of the estimates were accurate by any definition of cost accuracy,
and the median estimate was 243 per cent away from the true figure.
Overall,
doctors consistently overestimated the cost of inexpensive products and
underestimated the cost of expensive ones.
Most of the studies were conducted in the UK, Canada and the US. They
say that although a direct comparison between countries was not possible
because the studies were not conducted simultaneously, estimation accuracy
does not appear to differ among the three countries.
“Despite substantial and increasing concern about costs, doctors’ awareness
has not improved in the 26-year span of these studies,” they say.
However, since only three of the studies were performed after 1999 they
acknowledge that their results may not reflect current awareness.
The researchers say that more focus is required on educating doctors
about costs, and ensuring they have rapid access to cost information.
For example, they say that cost information could easily be incorporated
into computerised prescribing software.
They say that the level of training, speciality of the doctor and country
have little impact on the results.
They say that if doctors are not aware of large price differences in
medicines used for the same indication, they may continue to prescribe
the more expensive drugs, especially if they are being heavily promoted
(PLoS Medicine 2007;4:1486–96). |
Hospital
Pharmacist