• Revenue Cycle Management
  • COVID-19
  • Reimbursement
  • Diabetes Awareness Month
  • Risk Management
  • Patient Retention
  • Staffing
  • Medical Economics® 100th Anniversary
  • Coding and documentation
  • Business of Endocrinology
  • Telehealth
  • Physicians Financial News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Cardiovascular Clinical Consult
  • Locum Tenens, brought to you by LocumLife®
  • Weight Management
  • Business of Women's Health
  • Practice Efficiency
  • Finance and Wealth
  • EHRs
  • Remote Patient Monitoring
  • Sponsored Webinars
  • Medical Technology
  • Billing and collections
  • Acute Pain Management
  • Exclusive Content
  • Value-based Care
  • Business of Pediatrics
  • Concierge Medicine 2.0 by Castle Connolly Private Health Partners
  • Practice Growth
  • Concierge Medicine
  • Business of Cardiology
  • Implementing the Topcon Ocular Telehealth Platform
  • Malpractice
  • Influenza
  • Sexual Health
  • Chronic Conditions
  • Technology
  • Legal and Policy
  • Money
  • Opinion
  • Vaccines
  • Practice Management
  • Patient Relations
  • Careers

U.S. prescription drug spending showing little growth

Article

Spending on prescription drugs in the United States was $320 billion in 2011, an increase of just 0.5% compare with 2010 after adjusting for inflation and population growth.

Spending on prescription drugs in the United States was $320 billion in 2011, an increase of just 0.5% compared with 2010 after adjusting for inflation and population growth, according to the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics. The volume of prescriptions filled fell about 1%. Researchers attribute the negligible increase to patients reducing their use of medicine and their greater use of cheaper generics.

Since the start of the recession in 2008, spending on prescription drugs has changed only slightly each year except in 2009, when it grew by 5.1%. IMS said it appears that patients are still visiting the doctor less often and filling fewer prescriptions.

"The implications of fewer doctor visits and lower drug utilization on patients' health have yet to play out and require further study," says Michael Kleinrock, director of research development for IMS.

Related Videos
© drsampsondavis.com
© drsampsondavis.com
© drsampsondavis.com
© drsampsondavis.com
Mike Bannon ©CSG Partners
Mike Bannon ©CSG Partners