Prescription patterns and costs of acne/rosacea medications in Medicare patients vary by prescriber specialty

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF DERMATOLOGY

卷:77

Article

Zhang, Myron¹  Silverberg, Jonathan I.^2,3,4  Kaffenberger, Benjamin H.¹ 

[1] Ohio State Univ, Wexner Med Ctr, Dept Internal Med, Div Dermatol, Columbus, OH 43210 USA

[2] Northwestern Univ, Feinberg Sch Med, Dept Dermatol, Chicago, IL 60611 USA

[3] Northwestern Univ, Feinberg Sch Med, Dept Prevent Med, Chicago, IL 60611 USA

[4] Northwestern Univ, Feinberg Sch Med, Dept Med Social Sci, Chicago, IL 60611 USA

关键词: acne;    antibiotics;    cost of care;    Medicare;    prescription drug costs;    rosacea;    topical retinoids;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.jaad.2017.04.1127

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Background: Prescription patterns for acne/rosacea medications have not been described in the Medicare population, and comparisons across specialties are lacking. Objective: To describe the medications used for treating acne/rosacea in the Medicare population and evaluate differences in costs between specialties. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed of the 2008 and 2010 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Prescription Drug Profiles, which contains 100% of Medicare part D claims. Results: Topical antibiotics accounted for 63% of all prescriptions. Patients >= 65 years utilized more oral tetracycline-class antibiotics and less topical retinoids. Specialists prescribed brand name drugs for the most common topical retinoids and most common topical antibiotics more frequently than family medicine/internal medicine (FM/IM) physicians by 6%-7%. Topical retinoids prescribed by specialists were, on average, $18-$20 more in total cost and $2-$3 more in patient cost than the same types of prescriptions from FM/IM physicians per 30-day supply. Specialists (60%) and IM physicians (56%) prescribed over twice the rate of branded doxycycline than FM doctors did (27%). The total and patient costs for tetracycline-class antibiotics were higher from specialists ($18 and $4 more, respectively) and IM physicians ($3 and $1 more, respectively) than they were from FM physicians. Limitations: The data might contain rare prescriptions used for conditions other than acne/rosacea, and suppression algorithms might underestimate the number of specialist brand name prescriptions. Conclusion: Costs of prescriptions for acne/rosacea from specialists are higher than those from primary care physicians and could be reduced by choosing generic and less expensive options.

【 授权许可】

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