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Biomedical subjects

H McGavock

Publications and source records attributed to H McGavock.

27 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1992

Relationship between the number of partners in a general practice and the number of different drugs prescribed by that practice.

The objective of this study was to assess whether practice size, as measured by the number of doctors, had any bearing on the range of drugs prescribed. All practices in the northern and western health boards in Northern Ireland were included in the study--a total of 132 practices (362 doctors) serving a population of 628,249. Prescribing data, obtained from the Department of Health and Social Services (Northern Ireland) information technology unit database, were analysed retrospectively for the month of January 1989. The number of different preparations prescribed in each of 22 therapeutic groups were counted. Hence a measure of the range of prescribing was assessed. A significant correlation was found between the number of different preparations prescribed and the number of general practitioners working in the practice. However, no correlation was found between the number of different drugs prescribed and the mean prescribing cost per patient or the mean list size of the doctors in each practice. The use of a practice prescribing policy was found to have no influence on the range of drugs prescribed, nor on the prescribing costs. The inference is that formal therapeutic policies may be difficult to implement within group practices. These results are of importance to general practitioners since the greater the number of different drugs prescribed the greater will be the risk of side effects and dangerous interactions.

Drug Costs↗
PubMed1988

Some patterns of prescribing by urban general practitioners.

To detect the differences in patterns of prescribing between general practitioners with high and low costs, the costs in prescribing seven symptomatic and seven systematic drug groups were studied in 23 practices with low costs and 23 with high costs in the Belfast area. This was done by extracting information about the individual practices from the Department of Health and Social Services (Northern Ireland) information technology unit's database on prescribing. General practitioners in practices with high costs issued prescriptions more often and for larger quantities of medicine than did their colleagues in practices with low costs for all of the drug groups studied. There was a lower patient to doctor ratio in the practices with high costs (1786:1 v 2039:1). The prescribers with high costs offered more surgery sessions than their colleagues with low costs, amounting to an average of 6.5 extra surgery sessions per 1000 patients per month. Half as many more patients with heart disease, asthma, diabetes, and thyroid disease seemed to be treated by doctors in practices with high costs than in practices with low costs. A higher rate of prescribing symptomatic drugs by these same doctors was also seen, and further study is recommended in view of the risks associated with these drugs.

Costs and Cost Analysis↗