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Biomedical subjects

W F McGhan

Publications and source records attributed to W F McGhan.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1996

Pharmacoeconomic analysis of smoking-cessation interventions.

A model for evaluating the costs and benefits of smoking-cessation interventions is proposed and published data on the subject are analyzed. Decision-tree analysis was used to determine the costs and benefits, from an employer's perspective, of several smoking-cessation options. The probability that a smoker would stop smoking was based on two published meta-analyses of smoking-cessation interventions and a national study of nicotine patch users who received a smoking-cessation consultation from a pharmacist. The costs were determined by telephone interviews and market research information. A sensitivity analysis of treatment costs was conducted to determine the optimal treatment from the standpoint of costs versus benefits. The smoking-cessation intervention from which an employer would receive the greatest net benefit is the nicotine patch with smoking-cessation consultation from a pharmacist and patient participation in a formal smoking-cessation program. Pharmacists included in this analysis could charge a smoking-cessation consultation fee of up to $109 per patient. Pharmacoeconomic analysis suggested that smoking-cessation therapy consisting of treatment with nicotine patches, consultations with pharmacists, and participation in a comprehensive behavioral program would be the most cost-beneficial to employers.

Behavior Therapy↗
PubMed1996

Dynamic competition as an exploratory model of healthcare policy for the antihypertensive market.

Dynamic competition based on innovation, rather than classical competition based on price, may better explain the research-intensive pharmaceutical market. In an exploratory comparison of these models, economic indicators of annual change in price and price elasticity of demand were tested in a repeated-measures design by analysis of variance. Between 1990 and 1992, updated US prescribing guidelines for hypertension provided a framework in which the contrast between 2 newer classes and 2 older classes of first-line therapies served as a marker for innovation. The principal hypothesis was that newer classes would be less elastic than older classes, but with such innovation-based differences eroding over time. Although temporarily greater inelasticities for newer classes supported dynamic competition, initially extreme inelasticities for newer classes indicated a market distortion or a shifting demand curve. These exploratory results, although requiring substantiation, point toward using dynamic competition in crafting healthcare policy for the pharmaceutical market.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1995

Pharmacist counseling and outcomes of smoking cessation.

The Pharmacists Educating Patients Program (PEPP) was designed (1) to provide pharmacists with smoking cessation consultation guidelines for patients on nicotine transdermal therapy and (2) to test the effectiveness of these pharmacists' consultation services. More than 6,500 pharmacies and 40,220 patients participated in this program. One year after treatment began, a survey of 2,001 patients on nicotine transdermal therapy found that those who had not joined a comprehensive smoking cessation program (86.5%) but were counseled by a pharmacist had a self-reported smoking cessation rate of 37% at the end of treatment, and 33% at an average of 10 months after treatment. The average length of treatment was five weeks. Patients who participated in a comprehensive behavioral smoking cessation program, such as SmokEnders, and who also received counseling from their pharmacists (13.5% of surveyed patients) had a quit rate of 62% at the end of treatment and 45% after 10 months. Among surveyed patients, those who stopped smoking reported that their pharmacists' counseling had been more intense and more helpful than the counseling reported by those who did not stop smoking. In addition, those who stopped smoking had more pharmacist counseling interventions and more weeks on nicotine patch treatment than did those who failed to stop smoking. Results of this study show that pharmacists who counsel patients on nicotine transdermal therapy about smoking cessation can improve outcomes.

Administration, Cutaneous↗
PubMed1995

Drug expenditures in a balanced strategy for healthcare policy.

The US, like many countries, has turned its public focus onto its healthcare system, with drug prices drawing particular attention. Expenditure trends indicate that drugs do not represent a large portion of the overall healthcare picture; the typical US consumer, however, feels these costs more personally because large portions of outpatient drugs in the US are purchased with out-of-pocket funds. Using data trends for US expenditures, we contrasted projections in the year 2000 under the current US system relative to a strategic policy with full coverage of prescription drugs. Under this proposed scenario, drugs still captured just a small portion of overall healthcare expenditures, but with major shifting to private insurance and government programmes. Thus, as society increasingly views some level of healthcare as a basic human right, effective policies for the healthcare system--including the drug sector--must balance competing regulatory and market pressures.

Drug Costs↗
PubMed1994

Psychometric evaluation of measures of organizational commitment and intention to quit among pharmaceutical scientists.

This study utilized different statistical techniques to evaluate the reliability (internal consistency) and the discriminant validity of the most widely used measures of organizational commitment and intention to quit (the employing organization). Data were obtained from a national mail survey of members of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) working in the pharmaceutical industry. Both instruments had high Cronbach alpha values in this sample of pharmaceutical scientists. There was a substantial correlation between the scale designed to measure organizational commitment and that for intention to quit. Factor analysis revealed that there was only one common factor underlying the 20 items that were originally designed to measure two distinct constructs. The findings in this study suggested that the most widely used instruments designed to measure organizational commitment and intention to quit may be actually measuring one construct, or the theoretical constructs named as organizational commitment and intention to quit may not be empirically distinct.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Pharmacoeconomic series: Part I. Pharmacoeconomics and the evaluation of drugs and services.

The field of pharmacoeconomics is of growing interest to everyone from government policy makers to medical staff and administrators at hospitals and other managed care settings. This article reviews basic terminology and methodologic issues related to using pharmacoeconomics to evaluate drugs and services. Economic evaluation tools such as cost-benefit analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis, cost-utility analysis, and cost-minimization analysis are described. The challenge for all clinicians is to use these economic evaluation tools to optimize the benefit-to-cost ratio and resultant positive outcome of programs, services, treatments, or other interventions for the patient, the institution, and society.

Cost-Benefit Analysis↗