The impacts of the national centralized drug procurement policy on the use of policy-related antibiotic agents: the case of Shaanxi province, China.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of NCDP policy was to reduce the price of drugs. However, it is unclear that a reduction in the price of a single antibiotic will lead to an increase in other alternatives, which is crucial for antibiotic management. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of policy on the consumption of policy-related antibiotic. METHODS: Quasi-experimental interrupted time series methods were used to assess the effects of the policy. RESULTS: After the implementation of the policy, the consumption of the winning products increased rapidly, with a significant difference in growth (ß2 = 88.03). For nonwinning products, the level of purchase volume decreased (ß2=-22.83) in the intervention group, and after adding the comparison group, this number fell further in statistical significance (ß2=-114.53). Among all the nonwinning products, the level of purchase volume (ß2=-73.59) and expenditures (ß2=-346.71) of the generic drugs that passed the conformance evaluation decreased significantly after the policy in the difference model. The purchase volume of J01DC, J01DD and total antibiotics significantly increased in control group compared with the intervention. CONCLUSION: The implementation of the volume-based procurement policy promoted the use of winning products and decreased the usage of its alternative watch antibiotics.