Specialist physician perspectives on non-medical switching of prescription medications

Introduction: A non-medical switch is a change to a patient’s medication regimen for reasons other than lack of clinical response, side-effects or poor adherence. Specialist physicians treat complex patients who may be vulnerable to non-medical switching. Objectives: To evaluate specialist physician...

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Main Authors: Olivia S. Costa, Tabassum Salam, Amy Duhig, Aarti A. Patel, Ann Cameron, Jennifer Voelker, Brahim Bookhart, Craig I. Coleman
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-01-01
Series:Journal of Market Access & Health Policy
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20016689.2020.1738637
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author Olivia S. Costa
Tabassum Salam
Amy Duhig
Aarti A. Patel
Ann Cameron
Jennifer Voelker
Brahim Bookhart
Craig I. Coleman
author_facet Olivia S. Costa
Tabassum Salam
Amy Duhig
Aarti A. Patel
Ann Cameron
Jennifer Voelker
Brahim Bookhart
Craig I. Coleman
author_sort Olivia S. Costa
collection DOAJ
description Introduction: A non-medical switch is a change to a patient’s medication regimen for reasons other than lack of clinical response, side-effects or poor adherence. Specialist physicians treat complex patients who may be vulnerable to non-medical switching. Objectives: To evaluate specialist physicians’ perceptions regarding the frequency of non-medical switch requests, and the impact on their patients’ outcomes and healthcare utilization. Methods: An online survey of randomly sampled physicians spending ≥10% of time providing patient care and having received ≥1 non-medical switch request during the prior 12-months. Results: Among 404 specialist physicians surveyed, non-medical switch requests were reported as very frequent or frequent by 35.0% of oncologists (for injectable cancer agents) and up to 80.3% of endocrinologists (for injectable anti-hyperglycemics). Respondents reported decreased medication effectiveness (25.0% of oncologists to 75.0% of dermatologists) and increased side-effects (32.5% of oncologists to 66.7% of psychiatrists). Most specialists reported very frequent or frequent increases in non-office visits (52.5% of oncologists to 75.3% of endocrinologists) and calls with pharmacies (57.5% of oncologists to 80.5% of rheumatologists) due to non-medical switching. Conclusions: Receipt of non-medical switching requests were common among specialist physicians. Non-medical switching may lead to negative effects on patient care and require increased healthcare utilization.
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spelling doaj-art-58ec64ba0f254f3eba93cb14723ed7dd2025-08-20T03:34:44ZengMDPI AGJournal of Market Access & Health Policy2001-66892020-01-018110.1080/20016689.2020.17386371738637Specialist physician perspectives on non-medical switching of prescription medicationsOlivia S. Costa0Tabassum Salam1Amy Duhig2Aarti A. Patel3Ann Cameron4Jennifer Voelker5Brahim Bookhart6Craig I. Coleman7University of ConnecticutAmerican College of PhysiciansXcendaJanssen Scientific Affairs, LLCXcendaJanssen Scientific Affairs, LLCJanssen Scientific Affairs, LLCUniversity of ConnecticutIntroduction: A non-medical switch is a change to a patient’s medication regimen for reasons other than lack of clinical response, side-effects or poor adherence. Specialist physicians treat complex patients who may be vulnerable to non-medical switching. Objectives: To evaluate specialist physicians’ perceptions regarding the frequency of non-medical switch requests, and the impact on their patients’ outcomes and healthcare utilization. Methods: An online survey of randomly sampled physicians spending ≥10% of time providing patient care and having received ≥1 non-medical switch request during the prior 12-months. Results: Among 404 specialist physicians surveyed, non-medical switch requests were reported as very frequent or frequent by 35.0% of oncologists (for injectable cancer agents) and up to 80.3% of endocrinologists (for injectable anti-hyperglycemics). Respondents reported decreased medication effectiveness (25.0% of oncologists to 75.0% of dermatologists) and increased side-effects (32.5% of oncologists to 66.7% of psychiatrists). Most specialists reported very frequent or frequent increases in non-office visits (52.5% of oncologists to 75.3% of endocrinologists) and calls with pharmacies (57.5% of oncologists to 80.5% of rheumatologists) due to non-medical switching. Conclusions: Receipt of non-medical switching requests were common among specialist physicians. Non-medical switching may lead to negative effects on patient care and require increased healthcare utilization.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20016689.2020.1738637non-medical switchoutcome assessmentspecializationtherapeutic interchange
spellingShingle Olivia S. Costa
Tabassum Salam
Amy Duhig
Aarti A. Patel
Ann Cameron
Jennifer Voelker
Brahim Bookhart
Craig I. Coleman
Specialist physician perspectives on non-medical switching of prescription medications
Journal of Market Access & Health Policy
non-medical switch
outcome assessment
specialization
therapeutic interchange
title Specialist physician perspectives on non-medical switching of prescription medications
title_full Specialist physician perspectives on non-medical switching of prescription medications
title_fullStr Specialist physician perspectives on non-medical switching of prescription medications
title_full_unstemmed Specialist physician perspectives on non-medical switching of prescription medications
title_short Specialist physician perspectives on non-medical switching of prescription medications
title_sort specialist physician perspectives on non medical switching of prescription medications
topic non-medical switch
outcome assessment
specialization
therapeutic interchange
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20016689.2020.1738637
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