Understanding patient and physician responses to various cost-sharing programs for prescription drugs in South Korea: A multilevel analysis.
Front Public Health
; 10: 924992, 2022.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-36117604
ABSTRACT
Introduction:
Patient and/or physician responses are a pivotal issue in designing rational cost-sharing programs under health insurance systems.Objectives:
This study aims to understand patient and/or physician responses to cost-sharing programs designed for prescription drugs in South Korea.Methods:
As a framework, we took advantage of a tiered cost-sharing program, including from copayment to coinsurance (threshold 1) and reduced coinsurance (threshold 2). Given the hierarchical structure of prescriptions nested within patients, we utilized a multilevel analysis to assess effects of various cost-sharing programs on patient and/or physician responses using National Health Insurance claims data from 2018.Results:
We found that a tiered cost-sharing program was effective in changing the behaviors of patients and/or physicians. Threshold 1 was found to be more effective than threshold 2 in changing their behaviors. At the prescription level, sensitivity to cost-sharing programs was associated with prescribed days of treatment and locations of prescription. In a similar vein, sensitivity to cost-sharing programs was associated with gender and age group of patients.Conclusion:
A simplified cost-sharing program with extended intervals should be considered to rationalize cost-sharing programs. Specifically, a cost-sharing program designed for long-term prescriptions for chronic diseases together with an emphasis on cost transparency is required to better guide price-conscious decisions by patients and/or physicians.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Temas:
ECOS
/
Aspectos_gerais
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Financiamentos_gastos
Bases de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Médicos
/
Medicamentos sob Prescrição
Tipo de estudo:
Health_economic_evaluation
Limite:
Humans
País/Região como assunto:
Asia
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Front Public Health
Ano de publicação:
2022
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Coréia do Sul