Evidence map›Paper›PMID 8251847›Full record

ArticleBMJ (Clinical research ed.)1993

Effect of fundholding and indicative prescribing schemes on general practitioners' prescribing costs.

J Bradlow, A Coulter

Abstract readComparative Study
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 1993. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
38citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

38 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pharmaceutical policies: effects of financial incentives for prescribers.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2015
    Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. A qualitative comparative investigation of variation in general practitioners' prescribing patterns.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2002
    Article
  8. A healthy disposition? The use and limitations of the characteristics approach to general practice research.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2001
    Article
  9. Article
  10. Therapeutic substitution and therapeutic conservatism as cost-containment strategies in primary care: a study of fundholders and non-fundholders.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 1999
    Article
  11. A comparison of three methods of setting prescribing budgets, using data derived from defined daily dose analyses of historic patterns of use.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 1998
    Article
  12. General practice fundholding: progress to date.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 1998
    Review
  13. Article
  14. Implementing guidelines and innovations in general practice: which interventions are effective?The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 1998
    Review
  15. Review
  16. Prescribing behaviour in general practice: the impact of promoting therapeutically equivalent cheaper medicines.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 1997
    Article
  17. Article
  18. Research into purchasing health care: time to face the challenge.Journal of epidemiology and community health · 1996
    Article
  19. Review
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

J BradlowDepartment of Public Health and Primary Care, Radcliffe Infirmary, University of Oxford.
A Coulter

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo compare general practitioners' prescribing costs in fundholding and non-fundholding practices before and after implementation of the NHS reforms in April 1991.

designAnalysis of prescribing and cost information (PACT data; levels 2 and 3) over two six month periods in 1991 and 1992.

settingOxford region.

participantsThree dispensing fundholding practices; five non-dispensing fundholding practices; and seven non-dispensing, non-fundholding practices.

main outcome measuresPercentage change in net cost of ingredients, number of items prescribed, average cost per item, and proportion of generic drugs prescribed after NHS reforms.

resultsPrescribing costs increased in all practices in the six months after the reforms. The net costs of ingredients increased among dispensing fundholders by 10.2%, among non-dispensing fundholders by 13.2%, and among non-fundholders by 18.7%. The number of items prescribed also increased in all three groups (by 5.2%, 7.5%, and 6.1% respectively). The increase in average cost per item was 4.8% for dispensing fundholders, 5.3% for non-dispensing fundholders, and 11.9% for non-fundholders. Dispensing fundholders increased the proportion of generic drugs prescribed from 26.9% to 34.5% and non-dispensing fundholders from 44.5% to 48.7%; non-fundholders showed no change (47%). Five of the eight fundholding practices made savings in their drugs budgets at the end of the first year of fundholding (range 2.9-10.7%; the three other practices overspent by up to 3.6%). All non-fundholding practices exceeded their indicative prescribing amounts (range 3.2-20.0%).

conclusionsFundholding has helped to curb increases in prescribing costs, even among dispensing general practitioners, for whom the incentives are different. Indicative prescribing amounts for non-fundholding practices do not seem to have had the same effect.

Indexed as

Drug CostsDrug PrescriptionsDrugs, GenericDrug Utilization ReviewEnglandFamily PracticeHumansPrescriptionsState MedicineDrugs, Generic

Identifiers

PMID8251847
PMCPMC1679320

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.