Betwixt and Between Literature review about the economic burden of pharmaceutical interface management within the European Union

Abstract

In 2010 Pharmaceutical Health Information System indicated that in many European countries there was a need of improvement in interface management. This literature review focuses on the cost-effectiveness of sufficient interface management and the substitution of generics at the point of transition from the in-patient to the out-patient sector. There are three main ways in which insufficient interface management could cause a burden on national health care funds, patients or insurance companies. These are the prescription of unjustified medication, the occurrence of Adverse drug events and the unnecessary take-over of expensive medication instead of switching to generics. In all of these area’s research showed that improved interface management can be cost-effective, however the studies found were limited and often small scaled. There has not been a great focus on the economical part of interface management, this is therefore one the main recommendations of further research; a comparative cost-effectiveness study of interface management interventions. Another field where insight is lacking is the way health care providers in one sector are influenced in the prescription of medication by what was previously described in another sector. It is therefore important to look into what influences prescribers and what is the most effective way to give incent on prescribing generics.