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Physician Prescribing Behavior Study
cists to communicate with this higher income and better educated class of the public. The experience gained from the 1964 study and five years of operating the HECS program indicates, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that pharmacists can play an important role in their communities as health educators. Recently, APhA has revised the health education center service in order to make it possible for more pharmacists to utilize the service in their educational activities. The new HECS consists of a counter literature display rack which holds six different health brochures. Subscribers to this revised service will receive an attractive counter-style liter_ature display rack and bimonthly shipments consisting of six different health brochures in quantities of 50. The literature is selected from among those made available by the voluntary health agencies, health professional societies and the Federal government. All literature is screened by an expert Board of Literature Review for accuracy and applicability to the program. Each shipment of literature received by the subscriber will present a balanced coverage of health topics. Special attention will be . paid to seasonal topics such as information on poison ivy in the spring and pesticide safety in the summer. Furthermore, national health observances such as National Diabetes Detection Month and National Poison Prevention Week also will be reflected in the literature provided through the revised HECS. The role of the pharmacist in dental health education has been discussed in the APhA Journal and the APhA Handbook of Non-Prescription Drugs.
A dentist may see his patient a maximum of twice yearly, but the pharmacist may see this same patient twice monthly. The potential for effective
Richard P. Penna has been on the APhA staff since 1966 when he became secretary of the Academy of General Practice of Pharmacy. He is a graduate of the University of California from where he received a PharmD in 1959. Prior to his present position, Penna was assistant clinical professor of pharmacy at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center. While on the faculty, he also was a practicing pharmacist in Redwood City, California. Penna helped organize and served as first president of both the Peninsula Pharmaceutical Society and San Mateo Pharmaceutical Association.
educational dialogue between pharmacist and dental patient is, therefore, great. The American Dental Association has recognized this potential and is in the process of publishing a brochure for pharmacists on dental health education. Furthermore, National Children's Dental Health Week, which occurs every February, is the major health week observance sponsored by the American Dental Association. APhA is currently working with ADA in developing projects that will bring the pharmacist and .dentist closer together in educating the public regarding dental health. Health weeks, such as National Poison Prevention Week, National Pharmacy Week and Community Health Week offer unique opportunities to pharmacists to emphasize specific aspects of their educational programs to the public. The pharmacist as an educator is a role which has been accepted by the public he serves and his professional colleagues as a necessary part of his professional services. This fact has been recognized by those outside the
profession of pharmacy, for as former Surgeon General Luther L. Terry saidThe pharmacist today continues to serve as a major source of health information to the public. Young mothers consult the pharmacist on medication for every thing from diaper rash to colic, and older persons anxiously seek guidance from their pharmacist. It is he who directs them to their physician when the complaints so indicate; it is he who warns against self- or automedication in many instances. Because of this public trust, the pharmacist holds a unique position in the education of the public concerning matters of health. In their respective roles as teachers, the pharmacist and the physician stand side by side today as they -have in past centuries for the common good of those they serve.
What is required now is a recognition on the part of the entire pharmacy profession that a pharmacist is, by his very nature, an educator. This recognition, combined with concerted effort cannot help but benefit the health of the public which we are all pledged to serve. •
Physician Prescribing Behavior Study INVESTIGATORS at Ohio State University have recently completed the data collection phase of a national study of physician prescribing behavior. The study focuses specifically upon the effect of the benefits-to-risks ratio of a drug upon its use by the physician. Evaluating hypothetical case histories of patients with essential hypertension, physician-subjects decided whether or not to prescribe a particular drug under varying :conditions of projected benefits or side effects. A ?ational sample of over 1,700 physicians, mc1uding full-time practicing boarded internists, board-eligible internists, general practitioners and doctors of osteopathy
took part in the project. Whereas much of the previous work in physician prescribing behavior has dealt with the sources of drug information used, this study deals with the content of a common source of information-the package insert. Thus, physicians- in the sample received complete information about a hypothetical drug. The benefitsto-risks ratio in the writeup was varied among the subjects in a balanced manner. In this way, the importance of the benefits-to-risks ratio could be determined and matched against a wide variety of physician demographic characteristics, such as type of practice, age, geographic location,
medical school appointment. This procedure also permits the determination of the importance each physician places upon specific information about a drug in his prescribing decision. In prescribing is he more influenced by the benefits reported or in the risks (side effects or contraindications) included? The study, expected to contribute to a greater understanding of physician decision-making, will be useful for various teaching and research purposes. It is under the direction of Deanne and David Knapp of the Ohio State University community health research group and is funded, in part, by the university and HEW. Vol. NS10, No.5, May 1970
247
A dentist may see his patient a maximum of twice yearly, but the pharmacist may see this same patient twice monthly. The potential for effective
Richard P. Penna has been on the APhA staff since 1966 when he became secretary of the Academy of General Practice of Pharmacy. He is a graduate of the University of California from where he received a PharmD in 1959. Prior to his present position, Penna was assistant clinical professor of pharmacy at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center. While on the faculty, he also was a practicing pharmacist in Redwood City, California. Penna helped organize and served as first president of both the Peninsula Pharmaceutical Society and San Mateo Pharmaceutical Association.
educational dialogue between pharmacist and dental patient is, therefore, great. The American Dental Association has recognized this potential and is in the process of publishing a brochure for pharmacists on dental health education. Furthermore, National Children's Dental Health Week, which occurs every February, is the major health week observance sponsored by the American Dental Association. APhA is currently working with ADA in developing projects that will bring the pharmacist and .dentist closer together in educating the public regarding dental health. Health weeks, such as National Poison Prevention Week, National Pharmacy Week and Community Health Week offer unique opportunities to pharmacists to emphasize specific aspects of their educational programs to the public. The pharmacist as an educator is a role which has been accepted by the public he serves and his professional colleagues as a necessary part of his professional services. This fact has been recognized by those outside the
profession of pharmacy, for as former Surgeon General Luther L. Terry saidThe pharmacist today continues to serve as a major source of health information to the public. Young mothers consult the pharmacist on medication for every thing from diaper rash to colic, and older persons anxiously seek guidance from their pharmacist. It is he who directs them to their physician when the complaints so indicate; it is he who warns against self- or automedication in many instances. Because of this public trust, the pharmacist holds a unique position in the education of the public concerning matters of health. In their respective roles as teachers, the pharmacist and the physician stand side by side today as they -have in past centuries for the common good of those they serve.
What is required now is a recognition on the part of the entire pharmacy profession that a pharmacist is, by his very nature, an educator. This recognition, combined with concerted effort cannot help but benefit the health of the public which we are all pledged to serve. •
Physician Prescribing Behavior Study INVESTIGATORS at Ohio State University have recently completed the data collection phase of a national study of physician prescribing behavior. The study focuses specifically upon the effect of the benefits-to-risks ratio of a drug upon its use by the physician. Evaluating hypothetical case histories of patients with essential hypertension, physician-subjects decided whether or not to prescribe a particular drug under varying :conditions of projected benefits or side effects. A ?ational sample of over 1,700 physicians, mc1uding full-time practicing boarded internists, board-eligible internists, general practitioners and doctors of osteopathy
took part in the project. Whereas much of the previous work in physician prescribing behavior has dealt with the sources of drug information used, this study deals with the content of a common source of information-the package insert. Thus, physicians- in the sample received complete information about a hypothetical drug. The benefitsto-risks ratio in the writeup was varied among the subjects in a balanced manner. In this way, the importance of the benefits-to-risks ratio could be determined and matched against a wide variety of physician demographic characteristics, such as type of practice, age, geographic location,
medical school appointment. This procedure also permits the determination of the importance each physician places upon specific information about a drug in his prescribing decision. In prescribing is he more influenced by the benefits reported or in the risks (side effects or contraindications) included? The study, expected to contribute to a greater understanding of physician decision-making, will be useful for various teaching and research purposes. It is under the direction of Deanne and David Knapp of the Ohio State University community health research group and is funded, in part, by the university and HEW. Vol. NS10, No.5, May 1970
247