Opinion

Enjoying a couple of uninterrupted hours on the Eurostar recently, I decide to catch up on the report from the UKs Public Accounts Committee (PAC), "Prescribing costs in primary care", which last month reported that it believed there were still significant savings to be made within the UKs National Health Service (NHS).
Much of the report focuses on value for money, and I began to think about the value patients attach to the medicines they are prescribed.

Recalling some hazy concepts from my Economics degree (dear old Hirshleifers Price Theory and Applications anyone?) I remembered the debates about the price/ value equation, and discussion of whether a high price helps to attribute greater perceived value to the goods in question.

And indeed, the PAC report points out:
88% of prescription items are dispensed free to patients and the remainder for a standard charge not directly linked to actual cost. There is a risk that the patients for whom these drugs are prescribed may not be aware of how expensive medicines can be, and consequently do not realise the importance of taking them correctly and returning them for safe disposal if they are not used.

Given that patients routinely leave up to half of their medicines languishing in cabinets, I found myself wondering whether being given real price information would change the patients perspective on medicine value?

But obviously this had been considered, as the report explains:

The Department has done some research on whether displaying the cost of a drug on the packaging would discourage wastage. The results appeared to be inconclusive, with some patients suggesting that a high price would dissuade them from taking the drug because it was too expensive, and others suggesting that a low price would dissuade them from taking the drug, because they felt it was too cheap.

Hmm well thats clear then.

Has any other research been done into the relationship between known value/ cost of medicines, or self payment and patient compliance? If so, Id love to hear more.

Di Stafford is Director of The Patient Practice Ltd, a consultancy specialising in patient marketing, communications and relationship management. www.thepatientpractice.com