Table 3.
Prescription and medicine costs (Total).
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | No. of claims | No. of patients | Annual costs | Annual costs per patient | No. of claims | No. of patients | Annual costs | Annual costs per patient | No. of claims | No. of Patients | Annual costs | Annual costs per patient |
| Cerebrovascular circulation/dementia drugs | 13,820 | 3348 | $563,261.26 | $168.24 | 13,109 | 3113 | $579,904.81 | $186.28 | 11,825 | 2926 | $562,386.12 | $192.20 |
| Antithrombotic/anticoagulant agents | 12,679 | 3105 | $372,114.46 | $119.84 | 11,412 | 2772 | $369,553.41 | $133.32 | 10,447 | 2576 | $355,588.46 | $138.04 |
| Digestive agents | 11,296 | 3049 | $121,319.44 | $39.79 | 10,220 | 2696 | $111,575.01 | $41.39 | 8979 | 2479 | $105,277.27 | $42.47 |
| Psychiatric/neurological agents | 6,641 | 1809 | $80,606.03 | $44.56 | 5711 | 1546 | $79,644.94 | $51.52 | 5361 | 1471 | $78,477.18 | $53.35 |
| Vasopressor/blood circulation agents | 6,074 | 1445 | $92,933.43 | $64.31 | 5486 | 1251 | $94,570.96 | $75.60 | 4808 | 1142 | $85,468.79 | $74.84 |
| Hyperlipidemia drugs | 5,143 | 1321 | $117,078.33 | $88.63 | 5027 | 1195 | $122,707.06 | $102.68 | 4861 | 1233 | $130,833.90 | $106.11 |
| Vasodilators | 5,647 | 1454 | $75,288.88 | $51.78 | 4,721 | 1209 | $66,182.71 | $54.74 | 4376 | 1097 | $64,679.92 | $58.96 |
| Muscle relaxants/NSAIDs | 4,387 | 1376 | $34,691.04 | $25.21 | 4268 | 1244 | $34,592.51 | $27.81 | 3352 | 1075 | $28,001.00 | $26.05 |
| Anti-diabetic drugs | 1,704 | 408 | $12,838.26 | $31.47 | 1405 | 340 | $13,559.35 | $39.88 | 1390 | 326 | $13,739.37 | $42.15 |
| Infusion fluids | 1,358 | 767 | $14,465.75 | $18.86 | 1,015 | 628 | $11,778.48 | $18.76 | 819 | 569 | $8,428.65 | $14.81 |
| Urologicals | 1,104 | 271 | $23,871.03 | $88.08 | 1034 | 238 | $22,674.10 | $95.27 | 973 | 236 | $21,484.30 | $91.04 |
| Others | 2,872 | 966 | $24,729.89 | $25.60 | 2458 | 856 | $20,696.10 | $24.18 | 2038 | 795 | $15,999.62 | $20.13 |
All costs were converted using the annual average exchange rate (KRW/USD) of the corresponding year. The price level of healthcare cost is adjusted for 2018 (see Supplementary Table 5). NSAIDs: nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.