TABLE 4.
Trends and level changes in fibrate prescribing before and after evidence by physician characteristics
| Commercial | Medicare advantage | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre‐evidence trend | Post‐evidence trend | Change in trend | Change in level | Pre‐evidence trend | Post‐evidence trend | Change in trend | Change in level | |
| Characteristic | ||||||||
| Male Physician | 0.0013 (0.0010, 0.0015) | −0.0017 (−0.0018, −0.0015) | −0.0030 (−0.0033, −0.0026) | −0.0024 (−0.0052, 0.0003) | 0.0019 (0.0016, 0.0023) | −0.0004 (−0.0005, −0.0002) | −0.0023 (−0.0027, −0.0019) | −0.0034 (−0.0069, 0.0001) |
| Female Physician | 0.0009 (0.0005, 0.0014) | −0.0016 (−0.0019, −0.0013) | −0.0025 (−0.0031, −0.0020) | −0.0018 (−0.0064, 0.0029) | 0.0009 (0.0003, 0.0016) | −0.0006 (−0.0009, −0.0004) | −0.0015 (−0.0023, −0.0008) | 0.0029 (−0.0032, 0.0089) |
| Difference P‐value | .172 | .594 | .179 | .816 | .010 | .086 | .089 | .083 |
| Cardiologist | 0.0003 (−0.0006, 0.0012) | −0.0024 (−0.0029, −0.0018) | −0.0026 (−0.0037, −0.0015) | −0.0033 (−0.0131, 0.0065) | 0.0013 (−0.0001, 0.0028) | −0.0007 (−0.0012, −0.0002) | −0.0020 (−0.0036, −0.0004) | −0.0078 (−0.0213, 0.0058) |
| PCP | 0.0013 (0.0010, 0.0015) | −0.0016 (−0.0018, −0.0014) | −0.0029 (−0.0032, −0.0026) | −0.0019 (−0.0044, 0.0007) | 0.0016 (0.0013, 0.0020) | −0.0004 (−0.0006, −0.0003) | −0.0020 (−0.0025, −0.0016) | −0.0017 (−0.0049, 0.0016) |
| Difference P‐value | .031 | .007 | .661 | .787 | .683 | .280 | .972 | .391 |
| Endocrinologist | 0.0007 (−0.0002, 0.0017) | −0.0021 (−0.0027, −0.0016) | −0.0029 (−0.0041, −0.0017) | −0.0018 (−0.0114, 0.0078) | 0.0019 (0.0002, 0.0036) | −0.0007 (−0.0014, 0.0000) | −0.0026 (−0.0046, −0.0007) | 0.0068 (−0.0088, 0.0224) |
| PCP | 0.0013 (0.0010, 0.0015) | −0.0016 (−0.0018, −0.0014) | −0.0029 (−0.0032, −0.0026) | −0.0019 (−0.0044, 0.0007) | 0.0016 (0.0013, 0.0020) | −0.0004 (−0.0006, −0.0003) | −0.0020 (−0.0025, −0.0016) | −0.0017 (−0.0049, 0.0016) |
| Difference P‐value | .263 | .080 | .987 | .985 | .755 | .427 | .583 | .298 |
| Other specialist | 0.0014 (0.0006, 0.0021) | −0.0011 (−0.0016, −0.0007) | −0.0025 (−0.0034, −0.0016) | −0.0080 (−0.0163, 0.0002) | 0.0025 (0.0013, 0.0036) | −0.0002 (−0.0006, 0.0002) | −0.0027 (−0.0039, −0.0014) | −0.0060 (−0.0167, 0.0046) |
| PCP | 0.0013 (0.0010, 0.0015) | −0.0016 (−0.0018, −0.0014) | −0.0029 (−0.0032, −0.0026) | −0.0019 (−0.0044, 0.0007) | 0.0016 (0.0013, 0.0020) | −0.0004 (−0.0006, −0.0003) | −0.0020 (−0.0025, −0.0016) | −0.0017 (−0.0049, 0.0016) |
| Difference P‐value | .866 | .071 | .445 | .163 | .163 | .279 | .366 | .441 |
| Provider < 50 | 0.0012 (0.0008, 0.0015) | −0.0018 (−0.0020, −0.0015) | −0.0029 (−0.0034, −0.0025) | −0.0013 (−0.0048, 0.0022) | 0.0017 (0.0012, 0.0022) | −0.0003 (−0.0005, −0.0001) | −0.0019 (−0.0025, −0.0014) | −0.0032 (−0.0077, 0.0013) |
| Provider ≥50 | 0.0012 (0.0007, 0.0017) | −0.0015 (−0.0018, −0.0012) | −0.0027 (−0.0033, −0.0021) | −0.0040 (−0.0093, 0.0012) | 0.0017 (0.0010, 0.0025) | −0.0007 (−0.0010, −0.0004) | −0.0024 (−0.0033, −0.0016) | 0.0004 (−0.0064, 0.0073) |
| Difference P‐value | .860 | .194 | .620 | .461 | .962 | .033 | .424 | .456 |
| Residency < 20 | 0.0013 (0.0010, 0.0017) | −0.0016 (−0.0019, −0.0014) | −0.0029 (−0.0034, −0.0025) | −0.0029 (−0.0066, 0.0008) | 0.0016 (0.0010, 0.0021) | −0.0005 (−0.0007, −0.0003) | −0.0020 (−0.0026, −0.0014) | −0.0004 (−0.0053, 0.0044) |
| Residency ≥ 20 | 0.0010 (0.0006, 0.0015) | −0.0017 (−0.0020, −0.0014) | −0.0027 (−0.0033, −0.0021) | −0.0014 (−0.0062, 0.0035) | 0.0019 (0.0012, 0.0026) | −0.0004 (−0.0006, −0.0001) | −0.0022 (−0.0030, −0.0015) | −0.0039 (−0.0102, 0.0024) |
| Difference P‐value | .434 | .867 | .597 | .676 | .536 | .604 | .719 | .462 |
| Top 20 US Medical School | 0.0004 (−0.0002, 0.0010) | −0.0018 (−0.0022, −0.0014) | −0.0022 (−0.0029, −0.0014) | 0.0041 (−0.0026, 0.0107) | 0.0017 (0.0009, 0.0025) | −0.0006 (−0.0010, −0.0003) | −0.0023 (−0.0033, −0.0014) | −0.0051 (−0.0127, 0.0024) |
| Other US Medical School | 0.0013 (0.0010, 0.0016) | −0.0017 (−0.0018, −0.0015) | −0.0029 (−0.0033, −0.0026) | −0.0023 (−0.0052, 0.0006) | 0.0016 (0.0012, 0.0020) | −0.0004 (−0.0006, −0.0003) | −0.0020 (−0.0025, −0.0016) | −0.0018 (−0.0058, 0.0022) |
| Difference P‐value | .009 | .614 | .077 | .084 | .834 | .306 | .561 | .438 |
| Non‐US Medical School | 0.0014 (0.0009, 0.0018) | −0.0016 (−0.0019, −0.0013) | −0.0030 (−0.0035, −0.0024) | −0.0050 (−0.0095, −0.0005) | 0.0018 (0.0012, 0.0024) | −0.0004 (−0.0006, −0.0001) | −0.0022 (−0.0029, −0.0015) | −0.0008 (−0.0063, 0.0047) |
| Other US Medical School | 0.0013 (0.0010, 0.0016) | −0.0017 (−0.0018, −0.0015) | −0.0029 (−0.0033, −0.0026) | −0.0023 (−0.0052, 0.0006) | 0.0016 (0.0012, 0.0020) | −0.0004 (−0.0006, −0.0003) | −0.0020 (−0.0025, −0.0016) | −0.0018 (−0.0058, 0.0022) |
| Difference P‐value | .750 | .726 | .933 | .332 | .514 | .541 | .714 | .776 |
Pre‐evidence trends, post‐evidence trends, changes in trends, and changes in levels were calculated by estimating and respectively from Equation 3 with the binary flag for the given physician type equal to 1 (or non‐reference physician types equal to 0 if the given physician type is the reference category in the model for that set of physician characteristics) and all other binary variables in vectors and respectively equal to their sample means.
Abbreviations: PCP, primary care physician; US, United States.