When working as a locum tenens nurse practitioner, you will be meeting and working with many types of new patients. Depending on which state you are working in, you may have the ability to prescribe medications to your patients. A new study suggests prescribing the generic version of brand name medications.
Study overview
The aforementioned research efforts were published recently in the American College of Physicians in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Essentially, the analysts set out to find similarities and differences between the cost of medicine and healthcare spending, as well as medication and healthcare results. Specifically, the study isolated its focus on the underutilization of off-brand medications.
To do this, scientists reviewed literature on generic medications. According to the study, researchers structured the review to address five healthcare questions:
- How frequently are brand name medicines chosen over a generic version, when available?
- How does taking generic medication affect use and adherence?
- Do brand name and generic medications work the same? What is the evidence to support the clinical effects?
- What causes clinicians and patients to prescribe and use brand name medications over generic medications?
- How can the cost savings of generic medication be promoted?
Researchers determined that physicians, physician’s assistants, nurse practitioners and clinicians should prescribe generic medicines to their patients when possible.
Benefits of generic medications
Physician’s Briefing reported that the study found two main benefits of generic medication prescriptions. According to the report, generic medicines are just as effective as brand name medicines when they have similar ingredients and molecular identity. Secondly, generic medicines are significantly cheaper than brand name medications, reducing out-of-pocket costs for healthcare.
However, the adoption of generic medication versus brand name medication is easier said than done. The study said that sometimes healthcare professionals do not have the right perceptions about the safety and effectiveness of off-brand medicine. Some of this comes from a lack of knowledge about generic medicine’s regulatory standards. In reality, five of the top 10 generic medicine manufacturers are actually made by brand-name pharmaceutical companies.
Many health care professionals refer to medicines by their brand name which causes another barrier-to-entry, according to the study. Thus, when it is time to go to the pharmacy, the brand name is prescribed even when generic alternatives are available. Some states even have laws against automatically providing a generic substitution to a name-brand prescription.
What is your opinion of brand name medication versus generic medicine? Which of the two do you most often prescribe?