The economics of medicines optimization: policy developments, remaining challenges and research priorities.

ABSTRACT:

Background

This review scopes the evidence on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of interventions to improve suboptimal use of medicines in order to determine the evidence gaps and help inform research priorities.

Sources of data

Systematic searches of the National Health Service (NHS) Economic Evaluation Database, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects.

Areas of agreement

The majority of the studies evaluated interventions to improve adherence, inappropriate prescribing and prescribing errors.

Areas of controversy

Interventions tend to be specific to a particular stage of the pathway and/or to a particular disease and have mostly been evaluated for their effect on intermediate or process outcomes.<

SUBMITTER: Faria R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4154397 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature