Journal article
Use of prescription drug samples and patient assistance programs, and the role of doctor-patient communication
WF Gellad, HA Huskamp, A Li, Y Zhang, DG Safran, JM Donohue
Journal of General Internal Medicine | SPRINGER | Published : 2011
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Cost-related underuse of medications is common among older adults, who seldom discuss medication costs with their physicians. Some older adults may use free drug samples or industry-sponsored patient assistance programs (PAP) in hopes of lowering out-of-pocket costs, although the long-term effect of these programs on drug spending is unclear. OBJECTIVE: To examine older adults' use of industry-sponsored strategies to reduce out-of-pocket drug costs and the association between doctor-patient communication and use of these programs. DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis of a 2006 nationally representative survey of Medicare beneficiaries. PARTICIPANTS: 14,322 community-dwelling Medicare..
View full abstractGrants
Awarded by National Institute of Mental Health
Funding Acknowledgements
[ "This work was supported in part by a VA HSR& D Career Development Award (09-207) (Gellad), a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Investigator Award in Health Policy Research (Huskamp), and by grants from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (1RO1HS017695, R01HS018657), and the National Institute of Aging (1R01AG034056) and National Institute of Mental Health (RC1MH088510).", "The original survey and data collection were funded by grants from the Commonwealth Fund and the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation." ]