Moving from a paper-based prescribing system to a system in which physicians prescribe directly into computers represents an important but challenging transition. This article addresses 5 issues related to computerised prescribing. The first issue is that paper-based prescribing systems do not...

Objective: To characterize the dose administration patterns of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) within a managed care organization (MCO). Methods: Patients with RA who received either infliximab or etanercept between 1 January 2001 and 31 May...

The Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS(R)) of the National Committee for Quality Assurance is a set of standardized performance measures, the goal of which is to enable purchasers and consumers to evaluate the quality of different health plans. The HEDIS(R) `Use of Appropriate...

Unintended pregnancy and subsequent abortion remain major public health issues in many countries, despite evidence that post-coital emergency contraceptives have a good safety profile, are easy to use, and are effective in preventing unwanted pregnancies. Although emergency contraceptives have...

Spending on direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) in the US rapidly increased from $US150 million in 1992 to $US1.2 billion in 1998 (to the end of November). Despite this level of expenditure, there is no literature on how DTCA affects patients' level of knowledge about medications, physician...

The cost of copayments can deter patients from complying with essential medication. This can have a detrimental effect on health outcome and consequently healthcare costs. People with mental illness are commonly treated with regular and effective medication and are one group that is potentially...

Prescription drugs are a significant and rising component of healthcare costs. To limit this expenditure and maximize cost savings, half of the pay-for-performance health programs in the US reward generic drug prescribing once the patents on brand-name drugs expire. This article discusses...

Aim: To determine the effectiveness of a multi-component managed-care intervention in reducing inappropriate antibacterial prescribing for viral respiratory infections (VRIs). Study design: An episode-based retrospective analysis of administrative claims data between 1998, the year prior to the...

Objective: To determine whether an educational programme could reduce the inappropriate use of albumin. Study design and setting: A hospital albumin working group (San Carlos Clinical Hospital, Madrid, Spain) developed local guidelines for albumin prescribing. After the guidelines were...

Objective: To examine the different combinations of health insurance and types of payments, and their influence on physicians' prescribing of antihypertensive drug therapy. Design: The study was based on information collected in physicians' practices, obtained from medical records and physician...