User talk:Rdepietro/Out-of-pocket prescription costs

Out-of-pocket prescription costs are becoming a growing concern in the United States. These Prescription costs include deductibles, copayments, and upper limits in coverage. See the linked article for different techniques to reduce costs. This website, started by G. Caleb Alexander and colleagues gives advice on how to lower your out-of-pocket costs: http://prescriptions.uchicago.edu/

Some ideas to lower costs include making doctors more well-versed in prescription costs. This may include informing them on prescription costs through one-on-one interventions, or creating better health care informational technology services. Health IT design should be improved to make it easier for physicians to access cost information at the point of care.

Physicians employ many styles to promote the patient-physician relationship and health outcomes are correlated to the strength of this relationship. Some methods that physicians employ to reduce costs include switching to generic drugs, getting rid of nonessential drugs, and pill splitting, for example. Physicians use these multiple methods despite the barriers to the patient-physician relationship and further work is necessary to study these mechanisms.

Medicare Part D is a Federal program whose aim is to reduce out-of-pocket costs for Medicare beneficiaries. While this program has raised awareness of the burdens of prescription costs, it benefits seniors with limited income and poor prescription benefits. For the group of people with modest means and high costs, patient-physician communication about prescription costs may become increasingly important.

Further information

 * Alexander GC, Casalino LP, Meltzer DO. Physician strategies to reduce patients' out-of-pocket prescription costs Archives of Internal Medicine. 2005;165:633-636.
 * Alexander GC, Tseng CW. Strategies to identify and assist patients burdened by out-of-pocket prescription costs Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine. 2004;71:433-437.
 * Alexander GC, Casalino LP, Tseng CW, McFadden, Meltzer DO. Barriers to patient-physician communication about out-of-pocket costs Journal of General Internal Medicine. 2004;19:856-860.
 * Pham HH, Alexander GC, O'Malley AS. Physician consideration of patients' out-of-pocket costs in making common clinical decisions Archives of Internal Medicine. 2007;167:663-668.
 * Rabbani A, Alexander GC. Out-of-pocket and total costs of fixed dose combination antihypertensives and their components American Journal of Hypertension. 2008;21(5):509-13. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rdepietro (talk • contribs) 04:24, 14 February 2011 (UTC)