Dynamics of Public Outpatient Drug Expenditures in Austria, 2005-2015.

Due to high-priced specialty drugs, pharmaceutical expenditures in the Austrian outpatient sector have recently increased considerably. This also contributed to the fact that a mere 0.4% of prescriptions in 2014 were responsible for almost 26% of the total costs. While outpatient drug expenditures increased significantly from 2006 to 2008, only a moderate rise occurred from 2009 to 2013. However, in 2014 expenses started to rise again considerably, the ATC levels J (antiinfectives), L (antineoplastics and immuno-modulators) and B (blood and blood forming organs) being the main cost drivers. Apart from that, one can notice that the expenditures for the ATC group L have been growing steadily in the past 10 years, increasing 33% alone from 2011 to 2014. ATC group N being the second cost driver was responsible for rising drug expenditures until 2011. This changed after 2011. Another major cost driver with increasingly high expenditures since 2012 is ATC group B. A significant decrease in expenditures (for example by loss of exclusivity) has recently not occurred except in 2013 (ATC group C – cardiovascular system).