Limitations of Health Insurance Commission (HIC) data for deriving prescribing indicators

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To derive indicators of quality prescribing by Australian general practitioners based on Health Insurance Commission (HIC) data and assess the influence of incomplete capture of data on under-copayment drugs on the validity of these indicators. DESIGN: Two expert groups proposed prescribing indicators that can be derived from aggregate prescribing data, and which reflect important clinical or cost-effectiveness issues. Indicators were examined using HIC data and compared with national prescribing trends over time using Australian Statistics on Medicines. The effect of incomplete data capture on indicator interpretation was examined by stratifying GPs into five strata based on the..