The impotence of price controls: failed attempts to constrain pharmaceutical expenditures in Greece.

Détails

ID Serval
serval:BIB_6824D465E226
Type
Article: article d'un périodique ou d'un magazine.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Titre
The impotence of price controls: failed attempts to constrain pharmaceutical expenditures in Greece.
Périodique
Health Policy
Auteur⸱e⸱s
Lambrelli D., O'Donnell O.
ISSN
1872-6054 (Electronic)
ISSN-L
0168-8510
Statut éditorial
Publié
Date de publication
2011
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
101
Numéro
2
Pages
162-171
Langue
anglais
Notes
Publication types: Journal Article ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Publication Status: ppublish
Résumé
BACKGROUND: While the prices of pharmaceuticals are relatively low in Greece, expenditure on them is growing more rapidly than almost anywhere else in the European Union.
OBJECTIVE: To describe and explain the rise in drug expenditures through decomposition of the increase into the contribution of changes in prices, in volumes and a product-mix effect.
METHODS: The decomposition of the growth in pharmaceutical expenditures in Greece over the period 1991-2006 was conducted using data from the largest social insurance fund (IKA) that covers more than 50% of the population.
RESULTS: Real drug spending increased by 285%, despite a 58% decrease in the relative price of pharmaceuticals. The increase in expenditure is mainly attributable to a switch to more innovative, but more expensive, pharmaceuticals, indicated by a product-mix residual of 493% in the decomposition. A rising volume of drugs also plays a role, and this is due to an increase in the number of prescriptions issued per doctor visit, rather than an increase in the number of visits or the population size.
CONCLUSIONS: Rising pharmaceutical expenditures are strongly determined by physicians' prescribing behaviour, which is not subject to any monitoring and for which there are no incentives to be cost conscious.
Mots-clé
Cost Control, Drug Costs/legislation & jurisprudence, Drug Costs/trends, Greece, Health Expenditures/statistics & numerical data, Physician's Practice Patterns/statistics & numerical data, Program Evaluation
Pubmed
Web of science
Création de la notice
22/12/2011 14:38
Dernière modification de la notice
20/08/2019 15:23
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