Physician Dispensing Among Urology Practices and the Use of Abiraterone or Enzalutamide for Men With Advanced Prostate Cancer.

ABSTRACT: Urologists are increasingly prescribing oral targeted therapies to patients with advanced prostate cancer. Concurrent with this trend, urology practices are allowing patients to fill their prescription onsite or through a pharmacy established by the practice. We examined prescription patterns for abiraterone or enzalutamide between eventually dispensing single-specialty urology practices, nondispensing single-specialty urology practices, and multispecialty practices using a 20% random sample of the 2013-2017 national Medicare claims. We determined physician dispensing through manual search of publicly available information. From 2015 through 2017, higher percentages of patients managed by eventually dispensing single-specialty urology practices had a filled prescription of abiraterone or enzalutamide compared with patients managed in nondispensing single-specialty urology practices (eg, in 2017, 8.9%, 95% confidence interval = 7.3% to 10.9%, vs 5.9%, 95% confidence interval = 5.0% to 7.0%, respectively; 2-sided P < .001). Insofar as physician dispensing is associated with higher use of abiraterone or enzalutamide, it may represent a means to improve treatment access.

SUBMITTER: Lai LY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8973404 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature