ArticlePloS one2018
Influence of peer networks on physician adoption of new drugs.
Article in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Barriers and facilitators to the uptake of new medicines into clinical practice: a systematic review.BMC health services research · 2021Pooled it
- Promoting rational antibiotic prescribing for non-complicated infections: understanding social influence in primary care networks in Germany.BMC family practice · 2020Trial
- Association of Quetiapine Overuse Letters With Prescribing by Physician Peers of Targeted Recipients: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA psychiatry · 2019Trial
- Dengue vaccination Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices among healthcare providers in selected countries from Latin America and Asia Pacific.Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics · 2026Article
- Practice-Level Clustering of Industry Payments to Clinicians.Health services research · 2025Article
- Peer effects on appropriate antibiotic prescribing within a patient-sharing physician network in China.Communications medicine · 2025Article
- How experienced ICU specialists make decisions on prophylactic platelet transfusions-A qualitative study.Transfusion · 2025Article
- A Scoping Review of Multilevel Patient-Sharing Network Measures in Health Services Research.Medical care research and review : MCRR · 2025Article
- A national cross-sectional study of the role of clinician specialty and facility complexity on glucocorticoid prescribing in Veterans.Communications medicine · 2025Article
- Factors Influencing Primary Care Physicians' Intent to Refer Patients With Hypertension to a Digital Remote Blood Pressure Monitoring Program: Mixed Methods Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Analysis of the patient-sharing network in hypertension management: a retrospective study in China.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Enhancing the use of sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors in type-2 diabetic patients with chronic kidney disease, through a key performance indicator program.Qatar medical journal · 2025Article
- Exploiting relationship directionality to enhance statistical modeling of peer-influence across social networks.Statistics in medicine · 2024Article
- Influence of physician networks on the implementation of pharmaceutical alternatives to a toxic drug supply in British Columbia.Implementation science : IS · 2024Article
- The Role of Physician Networks and Receipt of Opioid-Related Payments.Journal of general internal medicine · 2023Article
- The Role of Physician Networks and Receipt of Opioid-Related Payments.Journal of general internal medicine · 2023Article
- Protocol for the Pathways Study: a realist evaluation of staff social ties and communication in the delivery of neonatal care in Kenya.BMJ open · 2023Article
- The influence of strong and weak ties in physician peer networks on new drug adoption.International journal of health economics and management · 2023Article
- Latent Class Analysis of Prescribing Behavior of Primary Care Physicians in the Veterans Health Administration.Journal of general internal medicine · 2022Article
- Drug Diffusion Through Peer Networks: The Influence of Industry Payments.American economic journal. Economic policy · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Although physicians learn about new medical technologies from their peers, the magnitude and source of peer influence is unknown. We estimate the effect of peer adoption of three first-in-class medications (dabigatran, sitigliptin, and aliskiren) on physicians' own adoption of those medications. We included 11,958 physicians in Pennsylvania prescribing anticoagulant, antidiabetic, and antihypertensive medications. We constructed 4 types of peer networks based on shared Medicare and Medicaid patients, medical group affiliation, hospital affiliation, and medical school/residency training. Instrumental variables analysis was used to estimate the causal effect of peer adoption (fraction of peers in each network adopting the new drug) on physician adoption (prescribing at least the median number prescriptions within 15 months of the new drug's introduction). We illustrate how physician network position can inform targeting of interventions to physicians by computing a social multiplier. Dabigatran was adopted by 25.2%, sitagliptin by 24.5% and aliskiren by 8.3% of physicians. A 10-percentage point increase in peer adoption in the patient-sharing network led to a 5.90% (SE = 1.50%, p<0.001) increase in physician adoption of dabigatran, 8.32% (SE = 1.51%, p<0.001) increase in sitagliptin, and 7.84% increase in aliskiren adoption (SE = 2.93%, p<0.001). Peer effects through shared hospital affiliation were positive but not significant, and medical group and training network effects were not reliably estimated. Physicians in the top decile of patient-sharing network peers were estimated to have nearly 2-fold stronger influence on their peers' adoption compared to physicians in the top decile of prescribing volume. Limitations include lack of detailed clinical information and pharmaceutical promotion, variables which may influence physician adoption but which are unlikely to bias our peer effect estimates. Peer adoption, especially by those with whom physicians share patients, strongly influenced physician adoption of new drugs. Our study shows the potential for using information on physician peer networks to improve technology diffusion.
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