ArticleBMJ (Clinical research ed.)1995
Changing to generic formulary: how one fundholding practice reduced prescribing costs.
Article in BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 1995. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Prevalence of potentially inappropriate long term prescribing in general practice in the United Kingdom, 1980-95: systematic literature review.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 1996Pooled it
- Sharing resources to create a district drug formulary: a countywide controlled trial.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 1996Trial
- The impact of physician-level drug budgets on prescribing behavior.The European journal of health economics : HEPAC : health economics in prevention and care · 2018Article
- Effectiveness, safety and cost of drug substitution in hypertension.British journal of clinical pharmacology · 2010Article
- [Acceptance of replacement by generic medicines at community pharmacies].Atencion primaria · 2007Article
- Quality measurement of care for people with type 2 diabetes in Tayside, Scotland: implications for the new UK general practice contract.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2003Article
- Exploring factors associated with patients' satisfaction with medication change: a questionnaire survey.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2002Article
- [Effectiveness of a personalized information system on the quality of family doctors' medical prescription].Atencion primaria · 2002Article
- Prescribing incentive schemes in two NHS regions: cross sectional survey.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2002Article
- [Evaluating, improving and monitoring generic drug prescription].Atencion primaria · 2002Article
- The impact of a general practice group intervention on prescribing costs and patterns.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2002Article
- A prescription for improvement? An observational study to identify how general practices vary in their growth in prescribing costs.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2000Article
- Challenges in changing to non-chlorofluorocarbon inhalers in the treatment of asthma.Postgraduate medical journal · 1999Article
- Prescribing at the interface between primary and secondary care in the UK. Towards joint formularies?PharmacoEconomics · 1999Article
- Drug therapy and the older person: role of the pharmacist.Drug safety · 1998Review
- General practice fundholding: progress to date.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 1998Review
- Drug rationing in the UK National Health Service. Current status and future prospects.PharmacoEconomics · 1997Review
- Formulary revision: eliciting the opinions of users.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 1996Article
- Alterations in prescribing by general practitioner fundholders: an observational study.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 1995Article
- Computer based prescribing.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 1995Article
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo observe one general practice's attempt to reduce prescribing costs on becoming third wave fundholders through the introduction of a generic formulary applied to all new and repeat prescribing. To assess the impact on patients and prescribing patterns.
designAn observational study using interviews with patients and practitioners; questionnaires for patients and prescribing data.
settingOne urban general practice with five partners in Scotland. It became fundholding in April 1993. SUBJECTS: 71 searches of the register of repeat prescriptions identified 1274 potential changes in drugs. Questionnaires were sent to a stratified random sample of 280 patients four months after the changes were made; 33 interviews were conducted with 17 patients selected by local pharmacists to represent a wide range of opinion.
main outcome measuresChanges in prescribing and response and satisfaction of patients.
resultsOf intended changes, 129 (70%) were in place after four months. Thirty three (20%) of the 167 patients who returned questionnaires were "very unhappy," though interviews suggested that this was primarily with the communication they received rather than the change itself. Generic prescribing rose from one in three (37%) to over a half (58%). The volume of treatment dispensed (as treatment days) fell by 67,674 (10.7%), and the average cost per day's treatment fell by 3.1 p from 32.3 p per day in 1992 (9.4%), producing a total absolute saving of 24% (137,712 pounds) over the first year.
conclusionThis practice has achieved a large reduction in prescribing costs rapidly. These were tolerated by patients, none of whom is thought to have left the practice for this reason. Great care must be taken to inform patients appropriately.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.