Physician awareness of drug cost: a systematic review.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Pharmaceutical costs are the fastest-growing health-care expense in most developed countries. Higher drug costs have been shown to negatively impact patient outcomes. Studies suggest that doctors have a poor understanding of pharmaceutical costs, but the data are variable and there is no consistent pattern in awareness. We designed this systematic review to investigate doctors' knowledge of the relative and absolute costs of medications and to determine the factors that influence awareness.

Methods and findings

Our search strategy included The Cochrane Library, EconoLit, EMBASE, and MEDLINE as well as reference lists and contact with authors who had published two or more articles on the topic or who had published within 10 y of the commencement of our review. Stud

SUBMITTER: Allan GM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1989748 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature