Chapter 10: Pharmacoeconomics Flashcards
Pharmacoeconomics is defined as:
The analysis of the cost & consequences of any healthcare related treatment
Pharmacies have tried to combat the increase in prescription drug spending by using:
generic drugs
Pharmacoeconomic drug studies use these three criteria:
- Cost minimization
- Cost-benefit
- Cost-effectiveness
A pharmacoeconomical analysis is performed to:
Answer a specific type of question
For any given pharmacoeconomical analysis it is important to know:
The point of view (who is determining the cost to the society)
According to pharmacoeconomical analysis there are three types of costs:
- Direct
- Indirect
- Intangible
Direct costs are defined as:
Costs directly attributed to the treatment of a disease
Examples of direct costs are:
Medications, PCP time, diagnostic tests, transportation, childcare
Indirects costs are related to:
morbidity and mortality
Indirect costs associated with healthcare treatments are:
Loss or reduction of wages d/t illness or costs associated with premature death
Indirect costs can be divided into two categories:
- Human capital method
- Willingness to pay method
Human capitol method of indirect costs assumes:
Losses based on an individual’s capacity to earn money
In ‘willingness to pay’ method of indirect costs the patient is asked:
How much money they would be willing to spend to reduce likelihood of a particular illness
When a pharmacoeconomic analysis looks at two or more treatment alternatives that are considered EQUAL in efficacy and compares the costs of each it is referred to as:
Cost-minimization analysis
When a pharmacoeconomic analysis looks at the given cost of a specific disease in a given population:
Cost of illness analysis
Cost of illness analysis includes:
- Cost of medical & non-medical resources used to treat the illness
- Loss of productivity by the patient
Cost-Effectiveness compares the cost of two or more treatments that:
are NOT therapeutically equivalent
In order for a treatment to be considered cost effective it must have 1/3 conditions:
- The alternative treatment may be less expensive and at least as effective
- It may be more expensive but provides an additional benefit worth the cost
- It may be less expensive and less effective in a situation in which the extra benefit is not worth the extra cost
Type of analysis which calculates the cost of a specific treatment and compares it to the dollar value of the benefit received:
Cost-benefit analysis
Cost-Benefit analysis can look at two interventions and determine:
Which intervention produces a greater benefit for the money even though the two benefits may not be similar
The results of a cost-benefit analysis can be described in two formats:
Ratio:
Treatment: $5,000
Benefit: $50,000
Benefit/Cost= 10:1
Dollar difference:
$50,000 - $5,000= $45,000
In a two-tired benefit plan, a patient pays a higher cost for ___ drugs than for ___ drugs
Higher cost for brand name than for generic drugs
Prescribing generic drugs is beneficial because it:
Eases financial burden, enables compliance & decreases healthcare utilization
What do pharmacies look at in order to select drugs?
- Maximum allowable cost (MAC)
- Drugs with
the lowest acquisition cost
One of the main issues in attempting to decrease costs of pharmacotherapy is:
Companies applying pressure on providers to continue prescription of brand-name drugs
Two justification providers can use for prescribing generic over brand name drugs are:
- Generic bioequivalence standards 2. Pharmacoeconomics
Generic bioequivalance can be defined as:
The standard set to ensure that generic drug products are truly equivalent to the brand name drug
When two drugs (one generic, one branded) display the same rate and extent of absorption they are:
Bioequivalent
