(1) Medicare beneficiaries reduced their drug spending in response to interruptions in prescription coverage prior to the implementation of the Part D benefit. (2) Interruptions in drug coverage were amplified, as a response to gaps in prescription drug coverage, for those suffering from chronic conditions. (3) Trends in spending and medication utilization by Medicare beneficiaries in this stud...

Irrational, over and misuse of antibiotics arise as global concern in both hospital and community settings and lead to adverse events including antimicrobial resistance, associated health problems, amplified hospitalization stay and cost. Hence, Drug Utilization Evaluation (DUE) studies are designed to evaluate and improve the prescribing, administration and the rational use of medications. The...

BACKGROUND Ensuring the appropriate use of migraine therapies is an important consideration for care providers, patients, employers, and managed care organizations (MCOs) because of the high cost of treatment for this fairly prevalent disabling disease. A review of utilization of serotonin 5-HT1 receptor agonists (triptans) in an MCO determined that about 24% of the patients who received tripta...

OBJECTIVE To assess the impact of increased prescription drug copayments on the therapeutic classes of drugs received and health status of the elderly. HYPOTHESES TESTED: Increased prescription drug copayments will reduce the relative exposure to, annual days use of, and prescription drug costs for drugs used in self-limiting conditions, but will not affect drugs used in progressive chronic con...

In 1975 the World Health Assembly requested the Director-General to advise Member States on the selection and procurement of essential drugs corresponding to their national health needs. We report here the results of a study of the prescribing patterns and rational drug utilization of medical practitioners of Pune, an industrial city in the west of India, which was undertaken by analysing their...

OBJECTIVE Evidence suggests that medication errors have a higher incidence in children and infants than in adults. At present, there is limited local data that investigates the drug prescription trends in pediatric populations. This study aims at understanding drug utilization patterns in pediatric patients at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital (SQUH), Oman. MATERIALS AND METHODS A retrospecti...

A range of innovative computer-based interventions for psychiatric disorders have been developed and are promising for drug use disorders due to reduced cost and greater availability compared to traditional treatment. Electronic searches were conducted from 1966 to November 19, 2009, using MEDLINE, Psychlit, and EMBASE. Four hundred sixty-eight nonduplicate records were identified. Two reviewer...

OBJECTIVES Prior to the implementation of Medicare Part D in the United States, inequalities were found to exist in the use of medications between minority and white beneficiaries. Despite improvements in medication affordability after Medicare Part D implementation, it is still not clear whether the characteristics of the program have improved drug utilization patterns among minorities to the ...