Table 1.
Summary statistics for annual physician‐pharmaceutical industry transfers and physician prescribing behavior
| Variable | Description | Year | Year | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | ||
| Mean/Prop | Mean/Prop | Mean/Prop. | Mean/Prop | Mean/Prop | Mean/Prop | ||
| (SD) | (SD) | (SD) | (SD) | (SD) | (SD) | ||
| [Median] | [Median] | [Median] | [Median] | [Median] | [Median] | ||
| Panel A: Descriptions and summary statistics for pharmaceutical‐based industry transfers | |||||||
| Proportion accepting transfers | Inflation adjusted conditional mean $ value | ||||||
| Food/Beverage | Food and beverage (such as when a drug manufacturer brings coffee/snacks to the physician's office, or pays for a physician's meal) | 0.571 | 0.562 | 0.515 | 484.69 | 515.08 | 440.94 |
| (0.495) | (0.496) | (0.500) | (771.02) | (812.81) | (682.62) | ||
| 409 041 | 409 041 | 409 041 | [201.98] | [205.49] | [180.62] | ||
| N | 233 421 | 230 058 | 210 646 | ||||
| Education | Payments or transfers of value for classes, activities, programs, or events that involve the imparting or acquiring of particular knowledge or skills | 0.200 | 0.165 | 0.112 | 88.42 | 84.60 | 40.90 |
| (0.400) | (0.371) | (0.316) | (546.71) | (647.52) | (412.60) | ||
| 409 041 | 409 041 | 409 041 | [40.52] | [30.33] | [18.97] | ||
| N | 81 985 | 67 491 | 45 945 | ||||
| Travel/Lodging | Travel and Lodging | 0.039 | 0.038 | 0.031 | 3459.02 | 3711.85 | 3353.63 |
| (0.192) | (0.194) | (0.173) | (7110.78) | (7618.82) | (6538.14) | ||
| 409 041 | 409 041 | 409 041 | [1194.60] | [1189.00] | [1210.57] | ||
| N | 15 764 | 16 058 | 12 671 | ||||
| Consulting | Payments made for advice or expertise | 0.046 | 0.038 | 0.024 | 4374.54 | 5065.60 | 5478.03 |
| (0.209) | (0.192) | (0.153) | (12305.64) | (12977.70) | (14518.21) | ||
| 409 041 | 409 041 | 409 041 | [760.47] | [1671.04] | [2500.00] | ||
| N | 18 818 | 15 713 | 9869 | ||||
| Other Services | Payments for speaking, training, and educational engagements that are not for continuing education | 0.030 | 0.036 | 0.031 | 19073.01 | 20414.46 | 18725.61 |
| (0.172) | (0.185) | (0.174) | (31801.61) | (36702.45) | (32225.99) | ||
| 409 041 | 409 041 | 409 041 | [7199.13] | [7309.54] | [7170.00] | ||
| N | 12 453 | 14 568 | 12 742 | ||||
| Any transfers | Payments or transfers of value for food and beverage, education, travel/lodging, consulting, other services (not consulting), gifts, entertainment, honoraria | 0.593 | 0.579 | 0.526 | 2219.30 | 2450.70 | 2039.33 |
| (0.491) | (0.494) | (0.499) | (13315.09) | (14681.91) | (12366.56) | ||
| 409 041 | 409 041 | 409 041 | [218.18] | [221.70] | [187.85] | ||
| N | 242 439 | 236 769 | 214 961 | ||||
| Panel B: Descriptions and summary statistics for medicare part D prescribing behavior | |||||||
| Real Annual Prescription Cost/Beneficiary | The physician's inflation adjusted annual prescription cost per among Part D Beneficiaries with at least one prescription | 1039.58 | 1167.97 | ||||
| (2227.87) | (2641.10) | ||||||
| [547.49] | [588.15] | ||||||
| N | 367 211 | 367 005 | |||||
| Prescription Costs/Day | Inflation adjusted annual prescription drug cost per day supplied | 4.06 | 4.73 | ||||
| (11.13) | (14.53) | ||||||
| [1.94] | [1.92] | ||||||
| N | 370 912 | 370 747 | |||||
| Percentage of Costs from Branded Drugs | Percentage of Annual Real Total Prescription Costs attributable to Brand name prescription drugs | 0.689 | 0.689 | ||||
| (0.182) | (0.195) | ||||||
| [0.700] | [0.707] | ||||||
| N | 251 603 | 256 315 | |||||
| Prescription Costs/Day for Substitutable Medications | Inflation adjusted annual prescription drug cost per day supplied for Patented Medicine Prices Review Board classified drugs that were deemed to provide “moderate, little or no therapeutic advantage over comparable medicines” and competing products | 7.06 | 7.58 | ||||
| (31.83) | (41.76) | ||||||
| [1.60] | [1.46] | ||||||
| N | 265 148 | 268 257 | |||||
| Prescribed High‐Risk Medications | 1 if physician prescribed a high‐risk medication to an individual 65 or older that is recommended by the American Geriatric Society to be avoided in persons aged 65 or older due to a high risk of serious side effects | 0.746 | 0.725 | ||||
| (0.435) | (0.447) | ||||||
| 258 477 | 258 379 | ||||||
| N | |||||||
| Percentage of 65+ Part D Beneficiaries with Prescription for HRM | Percentage of physician's 65+ Medicare Part D Patients with at least one high‐risk medication prescription during the year | 0.105 | 0.088 | ||||
| (0.084) | (0.076) | ||||||
| [0.102] | [0.084] | ||||||
| N | 164 790 | 163 557 | |||||