E-DRUG: UBC researchers map billions in spending on prescription drugs
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E-drug readers might be interested in this report which has just been
released.
A Canadian research team at the University of British Columbia has
just released the 2nd Edition of the Canadian Rx Atlas. This atlas
provides the most comprehensive depiction of the nature, magnitude and
causes of prescription drug spending in Canada to date.
The study, which draws on data from IMS Health and other sources,
reveals some very interesting findings about age-standardized
interprovincial variations in prescription drug use and spending.
The complete study and set of downloadable graphics are available
online for educational and non-commercial use.
http://www.chspr.ubc.ca/rxatlas/canada
The team was lead by Dr. Steve Morgan, PhD, Associate Professor &
Associate Director, Centre for Health Services and Policy Research,
University of British Columbia (morgan@chspr.ubc.ca).
A UBC press release is provided below.
Best regards,
Ciprian Jauca
Program Coordinator
Therapeutics Initiative
University of British Columbia
jauca@ti.ubc.ca
+1-604-822-0700
www.ti.ubc.ca
MEDIA RELEASE | DECEMBER 19, 2008
UBC researchers map billions in spending on prescription drugs
Researchers at The University of British Columbia’s Centre for Health
Services and Policy Research (CHSPR) have released the most
comprehensive study of drug spending in Canada to date. The Canadian
Rx Atlas (2nd Edition) is the first ever that measures spending on
prescription drugs by province, therapeutic category, and age of
patient.
“The results show major differences in the use and cost of medicines
across Canada,” says Steve Morgan, associate director in UBC’s CHSPR.
“Across provinces spending differs by more than 50 per cent. The most
striking finding however, is that none of the conventional beliefs
about drug spending appear to be true.”
The study reveals that spending is not due to differences in
population age, provincial drug plan formularies, population health
status, or health system characteristics.
According to Morgan, many variations in the amount of medicines used
and the type of medicines prescribed are driven by non-medical causes
including differences in the expectations of patients and prescribing
habits of physicians.
Key Findings
In 2007, Canadians spent $578 per capita on retail purchases of
prescription drugs, approximately $19 billion in total.
On average, spending on prescriptions for Canadians age 65 and older
was more than twice that of Canadians aged 45–64 and over six times
that of Canadians aged 20–44.
After figures were adjusted for differences in population age,
spending per capita varied by over 55% across provinces, from $418 in
British Columbia to $655 in Quebec.
Differences in the number of drugs covered by provincial drug plans do
not appear to explain inter-provincial variations in prescription drug
spending.
Population characteristics such as socioeconomics, health status, and
health system do not point to clear explanations of inter-provincial
variations in age-standardized spending.
UBC researchers combined unique databases from IMS Health Canada, an
international health industry information company, with other sources
of information about provincial populations and health systems. The
report is now available at www.chspr.ubc.ca.
“The findings of the Canadian Rx Atlas underscore the importance of
efforts to build better data systems for monitoring pharmaceutical
utilization, expenditures, and health outcomes,” says Morgan. “Our
Atlas shows that for several age groups and drug classes, residents in
some provinces use 50 per cent more medicines than residents of other
provinces. It is long overdue that we study these patterns to
determine whether this reflects over use of medicines in some
provinces or underuse in others.”
This second edition of the Canadian Rx Atlas features 168 full-colour
maps detailing drug spending levels and causes in the provinces, 20
maps illustrating population health and health systems in the
provinces, and 42 illustrations of average drug spending per person
within major age groups.
“Our new Atlas gives policy makers, researchers and the public
unparalleled information about factors that drive spending on
prescription drugs,” says Steve Morgan.
The UBC Centre for Health Services and Policy Research stimulates
scientific enquiry into population health and into ways in which
health services can best be organized, funded and delivered.
IMS Health provided data for the study. It operates in more than 100
countries and is the world's leading provider of information solutions
to the pharmaceutical and health-care industries.
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UBC Public Affairs
310 – 6251 Cecil Green Park Rd.
Vancouver B.C. Canada V6T 1Z1
www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca
Contacts:
Catherine Loiacono
UBC Public Affairs
Tel: (604) 822-2644
E: catherine.loiacono@ubc.ca