Drug Policy in Slovakia and Its Reflection in Prescription

Overview

1. Prescription of Mass-Produced Drugs according to the Specialization of PhysiciansThe present paper aims at pharmacoeconomic analysis of prescriptions of physicians according to their specialization. The database was based on medical rescriptions from four pharmacies. Altogether 133 856 prescriptions were evaluated in two periods (the years 1999 and 2000) with different legislative regulations of the conditions for prescription of drugs from the fiznds of health insurance (fully covered drugs, drugs with participation of the polity holder, prescription and indication limitation). The results show tkat 1.45 kinds of drugs and 2.28 packages of mass-produced drugs were prescribed per 1 prescription. The average value of drugs per one prescription was 370.28 Slovak crowns. General practitioners prescribed 50.5 % of prescriptions, the value of prescribed drugs being 42.0 %. As to specialization, the highest share of prescriptions (36.5 %) was written by pediatricians, the highest value of drugs as expressed per 1 prescription was prescribed by diabetologists (1340.20 Slovak crowns). When comparing the indices under study in two periods, in the second one (the year 2000) the financially expressed consumption of drugs continued to show an increasing trend (in the tase of the value of 1 prescription by 10.6 %).

Key words:
pharmacoeconomics - drug consumption - specialization of physicians - drug prescription