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Researchers' aim was to investigate if patients/physicians characteristics could differently affect males/females health care expenditure. In 2009/2010, a health-related-quality-of-life (HRQL) measure was distributed to 887 general practitioners' (GP) patients in Siena's province-Italy. Severity of diseases was calculated through Cumulative Illness Rating Scale Severity Index (CIRS-SI). Information about GPs' gender and age and patients' gender, age, and socio-economic variables were recorded. 2012 data about pharmaceutical, outpatient and hospital expenditure were obtained. Multivariate regression was carried out. In males, hospital expenditure increased with higher CIRS-SI and female GP whilst in females it was not influenced by any of the variables. Outpatient and pharmaceutical expenditure increased with aging, higher CIRS-SI, and lower HRQL and education, both in males and females. Gender differences in health expenditure determinants emerged for hospital expenditure.

Several cases of expensive drugs designed for large patient populations (e.g. sofosbuvir) have raised a complex question in terms of drug pricing. Even assuming value-based pricing, the treatment with these drugs of all eligible patients would have an immense budgetary impact, which is unsustainable also for the richest countries. This raises the need to reduce the prices of these agents in comparison with those suggested by the value-based approach and to devise new pricing methods that can achieve this goal. The present study discusses in detail the following two methods: (i) The approach based on setting nation-wide budget thresholds for individual innovative agents in which a fixed proportion of the historical pharmaceutical expenditure represents the maximum budget attributable to an innovative treatment; (ii) The approach based on nation-wide price-volume agreements in which drug prices are progressively reduced as more patients receive the treatment. The first approach has been developed in the USA by the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review and has been applied to PCSK9 inhibitors (alirocumab and evolocumab). The second approach has been designed for the Italian market and has found a systematic application to manage the price of ranibizumab, sofosbuvir, and PCSK9 inhibitors. While, in the past, price-volume agreements have been applied only on an empirical basis (i.e. in the absence of any quantitative theoretical rule), more recently some explicit mathematical models have been described. The performance of these models is now being evaluated on the basis of the real-world experiences conducted in some European countries, especially Italy.

Background: Polypharmacy is a significant economic burden., Objective: We tested whether using reverse auction (RA) as compared with commercial pharmacy (CP) to purchase medicine results in lower pharmaceutical costs for heart failure (HF) and heart transplantation (HT) outpatients., Methods: We compared the costs via RA versus CP in 808 HF and 147 HT patients followed from 2009 through 2011, and evaluated the influence of clinical and demographic variables on cost., Results: The monthly cost per patient for HF drugs acquired via RA was $10.15 (IQ 3.51-40.22) versus $161.76 (IQ 86.05‑340.15) via CP; for HT, those costs were $393.08 (IQ 124.74-774.76) and $1,207.70 (IQ 604.48-2,499.97), respectively., Conclusion: RA may reduce the cost of prescription drugs for HF and HT, potentially making HF treatment more accessible. Clinical characteristics can influence the cost and benefits of RA. RA may be a new health policy strategy to reduce costs of prescribed medications for HF and HT patients, reducing the economic burden of treatment.

Objectives: Given that many patients with chronic diseases face cost-related barriers to care, we evaluated patients' views on which providers (both physicians and nonphysicians) to involve and which methods to use to screen for those barriers. We also examined patients' preferences for how physicians consider cost-efficacy trade-offs in decisions., Study Design: A national survey of 1400 randomly sampled adults with a chronic disease seeking financial assistance (842 respondents)., Methods: Participants rated their comfort with various providers and tools for identifying cost barriers. Then they rated a randomly assigned clinical vignette that described how a clinical decision was made in the context of a cost-efficacy tradeoff. Vignettes depicted 3 decision types: cost-conscious physician, cost-indifferent physician, or patient-directed. Comfort was rated from 1 to 10-ratings above 7 indicated high comfort., Results: More respondents reported high comfort with physicians screening for cost barriers (81.1%) than with pharmacists (74.8%; P=.002), nurses (69.4%; P<.001), professional counselors (68.3%; P<.001), and trained volunteers (50.5%; P<.001). Regarding screening for cost barriers using administrative records, more respondents reported higher comfort with doctors' offices (58.8%) than with insurance companies (53.3%; P=.03), but similar levels of comfort compared to pharmacies (62.1%; P=.17). Participants favored "patient-directed" decisions with physician input (odds ratio, 4.64; 95% CI, 3.14-6.84; P<.001) compared with "cost-conscious" decisions in which physicians unilaterally decided how to manage cost-efficacy tradeoffs., Conclusions: Patients were open to a range of cost-barrier screening approaches, but most favor direct conversations with their doctor and shared decision making in decisions involving cost-efficacy trade-offs.

While most countries separate drug prescription and dispensation to ensure independent drug choice, some allow this combination to increase pharmaceutical access in rural areas or to increase the utilization of pharmacist skills. A drawback of this approach is that dispensing physicians or prescribing pharmacists may be incentivized to increase their own profits through the prescription of cost-inefficient drug packages, leading to an increase in pharmaceutical spending. Switzerland constitutes an interesting example of where dispensing and non-dispensing physicians coexist, permitting a comparison of their prescribing behavior. The present study shows that drug margin optimization is possible under the current drug price regulation scheme in Switzerland. Using drug claims data, empirical findings indicate a 5-10% higher margin per dose for dispensing physicians compared to pharmacists. Cost per dose is 3-5% higher when dispensed by physicians instead of pharmacists.

Background: Risk adjustment instruments applied to existing electronic health records and administrative datasets may contribute to monitoring the correct prescribing of medicines., Objective: We aim to test the suitability of the model based on the CRG system and obtain specific adjusted weights for determined health states through a predictive model of pharmaceutical expenditure in primary health care., Methods: A database of 261,054 population in one health district of an Eastern region of Spain was used. The predictive power of two models was compared. The first model (ATC-model) used nine dummy variables: sex and 8 groups from 1 to 8 or more chronic conditions while in the second model (CRG-model) we include sex and 8 dummy variables for health core statuses 2-9., Results: The two models achieved similar levels of explanation. However, the CRG system offers higher clinical significance and higher operational utility in a real context, as it offers richer and more updated information on patients., Conclusions: The potential of the CRG model developed compared to ATC codes lies in its capacity to stratify the population according to specific chronic conditions of the patients, allowing us to know the degree of severity of a patient or group of patients, predict their pharmaceutical cost and establish specific programmes for their treatment., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

With specialty pharmaceutical prices on the rise, patients are often expected to pay anywhere from 30% to 50% of the specialty-tier drug price through co-insurance-based cost sharing. As these prices continue to climb, patients may choose lower-value medications for their medical needs or become nonadherent for cost-related reasons. Value-based insurance design implementations for specialty medications connect cost sharing and clinical value by moving high-value medications into lower-priced tiers, adjusting cost-sharing based on patient-specific variables, applying the "reward the good soldier" strategy, and encouraging patients to seek high-performing providers.

Background: The evidence on the long-term economic effects of obesity is still scarce. This study aims to analyse the impact of body mass index (BMI) and BMI-change on future pharmaceutical utilisation and expenditures., Methods: Based on data from 2,946 participants in a German population-based health survey (MONICA/KORA, 1994/95) and the follow-up study (2004/05), drug intake and expenditures were estimated using a bottom-up approach. Using univariate and multivariate methods, we analysed the impact of baseline BMI and BMI-change on drug utilisation and expenditures after 10 years., Results: The use of pharmaceuticals was more likely in moderately and severely obese compared to the normal weight group (OR 1.8 and 4.0, respectively). In those who reported pharmaceutical intake, expenditures were about 40% higher for the obese groups. A 1-point BMI-gain in 10 years was, on average, associated with almost 6% higher expenditures compared to a constant BMI., Conclusion: The results suggest that obesity as well as BMI-gain are strong predictors of future drug utilisation and associated expenditures in adults, and thus highlight the necessity of timely and effective intervention and prevention programmes. This study complements the existing literature and provides important information on the relevance of obesity as a health problem.

Background: Worldwide, prices for cancer drugs have been under downward pressure where several governments have mandated price cuts of branded products. A better alternative to government mandated price cuts would be to estimate a final price based on drug performance, cost effectiveness and a country's ability to pay. We developed a global pricing index for new cancer drugs in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) that encompasses all of these attributes., Methods: A pharmacoeconomic model was developed to simulate mCRC patients receiving chemotherapy plus a 'new drug' that improves survival by 1.4, 3 and 6months, respectively. Cost and utility data were obtained from cancer centres and oncology nurses (n=112) in Canada, Spain, India, South Africa and Malaysia. Multivariable analysis was then used to develop the pricing index, which considers survival benefit, per capita GDP and income dispersion (as measured by the Gini coefficient) as predictor variables., Results: Higher survival benefits were associated with elevated drug prices, especially in higher income countries such as Canada. For Argentina with a per capita GDP of $15,000 and a Gini coefficient of 51, the index estimated that for a drug which provides a 4month survival benefit in mCRC, the value based price would be $US 630 per dose. In contrast, the same drug in a wealthier country like Norway (per capita GDP=$50,000) could command a price of $US 2,775 per dose., Conclusions: The application of this index to estimate a price based on cost effectiveness and the wealth of a nation would be important for opening dialogue between the key stakeholders and a better alternative to government mandated price cuts., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Pharmacists working in the intensive care unit (ICU) in Saiseikai Yokohamashi Tobu Hospital are mainly responsible for managing the stock of drugs, providing drug information to other medical staff, educating them for rational drug therapy, and providing pharmaceutical care to the patients. In order to evaluate the contribution to the rational drug therapy, we investigated the acceptance rate of the drug information that the pharmacists in the ICU provided to the physicians from February to May in 2009. The number of cases in which drug information was provided by the pharmacists to the physicians during the period was 288. It was suggested that more than half of the information could optimize the drug dosage regimens and correct the inadequate prescriptions. Furthermore, 98.9% of the information provided by pharmacists was accepted by physicians. We questioned 5 intensivists to evaluate the information with a 5 point scale (maximum score was 4, minimum score was 0) and then the average of score was 3.3. In addition, their evaluation of the information about optimizing the drug dosage regimens marked the highest point (over 3.5). Meanwhile, providing drug information which led the physicians to correct the inadequate prescriptions contributed to reduce the cost of the drug therapy by 900000 yen during the period. As a result, it was suggested that the intensivists highly appreciated the information offered by the pharmacists and the information contributed to enhance high-quality drug therapy. Additionally, the economic impact was identified through the cost reduction in drug therapy.

The expenditure incurred in the German statutory health insurance (SHI) in relation to drugs, are characterized not only by the amount of drug prices, but also by their degree of efficient usage. The prevention of superfluous and inappropriate pharmaceutical supply leads to direct savings in expenditure, a drug-based guideline-oriented therapy, and prevention of diseases and deficiency symptoms leads to savings by avoiding hospitalizations, operations, and maintaining the ability to work. Prescriptions of new and expensive me-too drugs with no additional benefit bind financial resources of the SHI, which should be available for pharmaceutical therapeutic innovations.

Guidelines for management of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) have been generated by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Myelodysplastic Syndromes Panel. Because MDS is a heterogeneous spectrum of disorders, these patients have been categorized into prognostic subgroups, predominantly using the International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS). Several drugs have been used to treat these patients, and their selection and sequential recommended use by the panel depend on disease characteristics and responses to treatment. Recombinant erythropoietin alfa and darbepoetin alfa have been the mainstay of therapy for treating anemia associated with MDS. The FDA has recently approved several other drugs for treating MDS, including azacytidine and decitabine for all stages of disease, lenalidomide for low-risk anemic patients with del(5q) chromosomal abnormality, and deferasirox for treating iron overload. For iron chelation, deferoxamine is also used occasionally. Treatment with immunosuppressive therapy (antithymocyte globulin and cyclosporin) has been therapeutically beneficial for a subset of younger patients with MDS. Because the financial cost of these therapies are substantial and have received only limited attention, this article evaluates the costs of specific drugs and their sequential use in the lower-risk IPSS (low and intermediate-1) subgroups based on the NCCN guidelines. Results estimate an average annual cost for potentially anemia-altering drugs of $63,577 per patient, ranging from $26,000 to $95,000, depending on the specific therapies. In patients for whom the therapies fail, annual costs for iron chelation plus red blood cell transfusions are estimated to average $41,412. The economic impact of drug therapy should be weighed against the patient's potential for improvement in clinical outcomes, quality of life, and transfusion requirements.

Although it is commonly believed that the innovation of new medicines is of paramount importance for improving the health and quality of life of patients, there is also a keen recognition regarding upward-spiraling costs of innovation, drug discovery, and drug development against a backdrop of dwindling successes in research and development (R&D) efforts. We propose a new model of valuation of pharmacotherapies that attempts to secure an adequate return on investment in innovation by ensuring optimal pricing and reimbursement.

Objective: To identify Japanese patients' perceptions of the costs and benefits of their medications by administering a questionnaire validated in Western patients and to compare the association between the perception levels and non-adherence to medication in the two non-adherent patient types, intentional, and unintentional., Methods: Japanese patients with chronic diseases were given a questionnaire and interviewed, and the validity and reliability of the scales generated were assessed. Logistic regression was used to analyse the association between individual perception levels and non-adherence to the medication regimen., Results: From 151 responses, two kinds of scales were generated following a report of Western patients; the necessity scale showed satisfactory reliability (Cronbach's alpha 0.79) but the concerns scale did not. Individual levels of perception of the necessity of medications were associated with unintentional non-adherence (the higher the level, the lower the odds ratio 1.0, 0.56, 0.40, and 0.15), while they were not associated with intentional non-adherence., Conclusion: Japanese patients' perceptions of the benefits of medications, but not the costs were similar to those of Western patients, and these perceptions were likely to be different between intentionally and unintentionally non-adherent patients., Practice Implications: Strategies to improve non-adherence should be designed according to the non-adherent type.

In the United States today, most citizens receive their health care through programs sponsored and financed by their employers rather than through primarily government-based funding. With this in mind, 85% of U.S. employer survey respondents indicated their health care programs are an investment in their employees from which they expect a return. With the many new pharmaceutical therapies that have been developed and marketed in this country that treat small populations suffering from rare or previously untreatable diseases such as multiple sclerosis, inflammatory diseases and treatments for various types of cancer, employers have found themselves in an uncomfortable position. The costs of these pharmaceutical therapies can reach $5,000 per month or more, but the long-term benefits may take decades to assess; even increased survival rates or improvement of symptoms is uncertain in some newer oncology therapies. What steps can employers take to manage the availability of these high-cost therapies so their prescription drug plans continue to provide an acceptable return on investment? Prior authorization, step therapy, wellness programs, case management, drug compliance efforts, drug therapy rationing, transparency and cost-sharing techniques are discussed.

Practice networks are intended to improve drug treatment and render it more economical. To check whether these aims can be realized, two groups of physicians were observed over a period of two years. The first group stemmed from the Practice Network Nuremberg North (PNN), the other comprised a group of physicians in Augsburg similarly structured in terms of prescriptions, specialties and patients. A comparison was made of the application and costs of drugs for the following four different indications: bronchial asthma, diabetes mellitus, hypertension and osteoporosis. Within the practice network a mild increase in costswas observed forall four indications. This was in part explained by the increased used of modern, more expensive drugs, although savings were also achieved by a more liberal use of more economical, patent-free medications. No improvement in treatment outcome was seen, since prescription in accordance with recommended guidelines would have required the use of other drugs. Evaluation of treatment qualitywas not an aim of this study. Overall, the potentials in terms of improved and simultaneously more economical chemotherapy expected from the establishment of a practice network were not fully utilized. Perhaps the conclusion of a modified agreement Quality and Efficiency (QaE, 2003) might result in improved prescribing through evidence-based medicine, and greater savings.

This Issue Brief reports on changes in manufacturers' prescription drug prices during the first three months of 2004 (January through March) for the brand name prescription drugs most widely used by Americans age 50 and over. This report is the first quarterly update in an ongoing study of changes in drug manufacturer prices-that is, manufacturers' prices charged for drugs they sold to wholesalers. A baseline study published in May 2004 by the AARP Public Policy Institute identified steady increases in the average annual manufacturer price from calendar year 2000 through calendar year 2003. This report's focus is on changes in the prices that brand name drug manufacturers charge to wholesalers for sales to retail pharmacies. The manufacturer's charge to wholesalers is the most substantial component of a prescription drug's retail price. When there is an increase in the manufacturer price to wholesalers for a brand name drug, this added cost is generally passed on as a similar percent change in the retail price to most prescription purchasers. The report presents three measures of price change (see methodological appendix). The first set of findings are annual rates of change in manufacturers' prices for widely used brand name drugs, using both rolling average and point-to-point estimates; information is presented on percentage change in manufacturer price and on potential dollar changes in consumer spending. The second set of findings are three-month percentage changes in prices (i.e., changes from December 31, 2003 through March 31, 2004); the distribution of percentage price changes is shown, as well as differences in average percentage price changes by manufacturer and by therapeutic category.

Excluding all other costs or benefits of participation in clinical trials, the objective of this study was to evaluate and analyse the cost avoidance represented by the free supply of the investigational drug in place of paying for a marketed drug. The cost avoided was defined as money that would most likely have been spent, but not because of inclusion of the patient in the clinical study. Only studies for which a marketed alternative drug was available with a standard dosage have been analysed. The numbers of delivered doses or the treatment durations were tabulated from pharmacy dispensing records for each study, and were used to calculate the medication cost avoided. No marketed alternative drug was available for 10 of 56 clinical studies. In total, in 2000, the cost avoidance was estimated between [symbol: see text] 585,492 and [symbol: see text] 603,674, with a wide variability between studies or between patients (CV: 120-520%). The two disease categories associated with the largest cost avoidance were multiple sclerosis and growth hormone deficiency. The cost avoidance was essentially of benefit to the medical insurance or the patient (98%) and was lower than [symbol: see text] 10,000 for the hospital, because 91% of patients are not hospitalised. So, why are clinical studies involving ambulatory patients performed in hospital? Of the 56 studies analysed, 46 could be shown to be non-innovative, because a marketed alternative drug was available. Few studies appeared to permit free access to treatment with non-reimbursable marketed drugs.

This is the third Research Note addressing pharmacoeconomics in prescribing research, reflecting the increasing use of economic evaluation in drug purchasing decisions in a variety of settings. In this segment we provide an overview of the theoretical basis, practical application and methodological limitations of cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA).

Crown discussed findings of a Medstat study probing the economic burden of psoriasis and the presence of comorbidity in psoriasis patients. He also discussed current economic issues in the marketplace, concluding with some thoughts on health economics and biologics--which are shifting the landscape of pharmacotherapy.

Background: To review costs of the wide array of glaucoma medications available today as well as patient-assistance programs., Methods: Potential yearly costs for current frequently used single and multiple drug therapies were determined, taking into account the actual (not labeled) volume of drops in the bottled medications. Alternative modes for obtaining medications, such as compassionate-use programs, were also surveyed., Results: "Maximum" medical therapy may cost over $2000 per year. Allergan, Ciba, Merck, Pharmacia-Upjohn, and Alcon offer patient-assistance programs of variable simplicity of use., Discussion: The cost of maximum glaucoma medical therapy can assume a significant proportion of an elderly patient's yearly income.

Drug-cost projections for 2002 and factors likely to influence drug costs are discussed. The United States continues to face the challenge of increased growth in health expenditures, and pharmaceutical expenditures continue to increase significantly faster than the growth in total health care expenditures. These increases can be largely attributed to a combination of general inflation, an increase in the average age of the U.S. population, and the increased use of new technologies. On the basis of price inflation and nonprice inflationary factors, including increases in volume, shifts in patient and therapeutic intensity, and the expected approval of new drugs, we forecast a 15.5% increase in drug expenditures in 2002 for hospitals and clinics and an 18.5% increase for ambulatory care settings. One of the most substantial contributors to the rise in pharmaceutical expenditures over the past decade is the successful introduction and rapid diffusion of new pharmaceuticals. Data about many new drugs on the horizon are provided. One agent likely to have the highest impact on hospitals in the next year is drotrecogin alfa for the treatment of sepsis. The cost of this agent is expected to range from $3,000 to $10,000 per patient per course of therapy. Other factors influencing medication costs, including generic medications, legislative initiatives, and the recent acts of terrorism committed against the United States, are also discussed. Technological, demographic, and market-based changes, and possibly public policy changes, will have a dramatic influence on pharmaceutical expenditures in the coming year. An understanding of what is driving the changes is critical to the effective management of these resources.

The pharmacoeconomics makes possible a most favourable utilization of capital resources appropriated for the health protection. For the use of economic analysis health and effects of disease and its treatment are represented in absolute values having a common base--money. The economic analysis is usually carried out from a certain perspective. Something, what is an expense for someone can be a profit for someone else. This work is a review of available Polish literature describing main assumptions of the pharmoeconomics and its instruments--the pharmacoeconomic analyses. As a result of the review it has been ascertained that a modern medicine can not do without economics. At present the capital resources are constantly too small, profitability of an employed method of the therapy or drug must be assessed all the time.

This study analyzes data on prescribed medicines from the 1996 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) to examine the association between the use of newer medicines and morbidity, mortality, and health spending. We find that people consuming newer drugs were significantly less likely to die by the end of the survey and were significantly less likely to experience work-loss days than were people consuming older drugs. Our most notable finding, however, is that use of newer drugs tends to lower all types of nondrug medical spending, resulting in a substantial net reduction in the total cost of treating a given condition.

Background: Hospital pharmacists make many recommendations that improve patients' quality of care and/or reduce drug costs. While the impact of quality-of-care interventions is difficult to quantify, those limited to cost savings could be assessed in a prospective, randomized fashion., Objective: To assess the impact of pharmacist-initiated interventions on cost savings., Methods: Six pharmacists at a large university hospital recorded patient-specific recommendations for 30 days. All quality-of-care interventions were completed by the pharmacists, but those strictly aimed at reducing costs were stratified by drug class and randomized to an intervention or control group. Pharmacists contacted physicians with cost-saving recommendations in the intervention group, while control group patients were simply observed., Main Outcome Measure: Drug costs after randomization., Results: Most (n=967 [79%]) of the 1226 interventions recorded were aimed at improving quality of care. The remaining 259 (21%) provided equivalent quality of care, but at less expense. These cost-saving interventions typically involved streamlining therapy to less expensive agents (39%), discontinuing an unnecessary medication (25%), or modifying the route of administration (24%). The group randomized to receive a pharmacist's intervention had drug costs that were 41% lower than those in the control group (mean, $73.75 vs $43.40; P<.001). Interventions involving anti-infective agents had the greatest cost savings (mean, $104.08 vs $58.45; P<.001). For our institution, this extrapolates to an annual savings of approximately $394,000 (95% confidence interval, $46,000-$742,000). As expected, these interventions had no impact on length of hospital stay, in-hospital mortality, 30-day readmissions, or the need to readminister the targeted medication or restart intravenous therapy., Conclusions: While interventions solely aimed at reducing costs represent a small portion of a pharmacist's activities, they can result in significant savings for an institution.

Drug therapy for 115 patients in Health Board contracted beds in a long-stay institution for the elderly were studied. The results were analysed for frequency, type and cost of medicines. 96.5% of patients received a total of 473 routine medicines, an average of 4.1 medicines per patient, females received a higher number of medicines than males. The average cost per person per day was 67.6p for all medicines. The most frequently prescribed medicines were for therapeutic groups CNS (32.3%) CVS (17.8%) and GIS (14.2%).

This century has seen a phenomenal growth in the development, understanding and use of pharmaceuticals. Additionally, this period has seen the balance of the treatment needs of patients shift dramatically from infectious to cardiovascular and cancer diseases, and from infancy and middle-age to old age. The value of modern pharmaceuticals to society is undoubted. However, the benefits in terms of health gain, when adequately evaluated, are often more modest than first supposed, and are often achieved at considerable costs and sometimes considerable risks to patients. Data are seldom adequate to attempt a robust evaluation of the cost effectiveness of drugs and compare how cost effectiveness may have changed over time. Rapid increases in development costs coupled with the increasing focus on chronic and old-age diseases make it probable that the cost effectiveness of new drugs is broadly declining, but such a conclusion should be interpreted with caution. The big challenge for the next century with its likely genetic and biotechnological discoveries, bringing as yet unforeseen benefits, risks and costs, is to radically improve the manner in which new drugs are evaluated and diffuse into health systems.

Germany is frequently cited as an example of reference based pricing (RBP) in ongoing controversial discussions on the effect of RBP. There are thorough analyses of phase I and II RBP on Germany's drug market. However, any conclusions on the overall economic and public health impact of RBP, solely on the basis of aggregated data, must be suspect to substantial bias, since too many factors in a rapidly changing health care system remained uncontrolled. Parallel to the introduction of phase II RBP in 1992/1993, the second health care reform became active. The two major confounding factors were the introduction of fixed drug budgets and the many changes due to the unification of Germany that took place in the beginning of the 1990s. Published and unpublished aggregated data do not allow any conclusions on the etiology of adverse health events due to this change in drug reimbursement policy. Conclusions drawn from the German experience will be based on assumptions or speculations that are hard to prove. A health care system that identifies enough evidence and need to introduce RBP as a measure of cost control should make every effort to evaluate the effects in order to increase program compliance or, if indicated, make adaptations to the RBP policy. The introduction of RBP in British Columbia in 1995-1997 and its computerized administrative health databases covering a large proportion of the population should give rise to a thorough analysis of this policy.

The past quarter century has seen a transformation of the pharmaceutical industry from blind empiricism to the design of drugs to act as agonists or antagonists at specific receptor sites. As truly effective technology, many have led to marked savings in cost. Savings have been achieved when therapeutic drugs, often highly specific, can be substituted for surgery and other invasive procedures and when therapeutic drugs can be used to prevent illness and the need for treatment. Further savings are achieved with the reduced prescription of ineffective drugs. It is estimated that therapeutic drugs and vaccines contribute about half of medicine's contribution to increased life expectancy and improved quality of life in this century at about 7% of national expenditures for medical care in the United States.