Abstract

U. Kulkarni*, K. Dalvi, V. V. Moghe and Y. A. Deshmukh

Increasing health care cost is a major concern in the developing world and has increased the individual economical burden for a common man. Patients are affected by the high pricing of drugs and though the symptoms improve, the poor patient’s compliance sets in if the regimen is heavy on his/her pocket. Therefore, the concepts of pharmacoeconomics are essential for physicians to prescribe individualized drug therapy based on essential drug concept, STEP and R.U.D. criteria, with minimal costs to improve the cost- effectiveness of the drug therapy. Medical education is not purely technical in knowing about diseases and their treatment but also involves understanding socio-economic issues. Consumption decisions in health care are taken by the provider that is, the physician and not by the consumer – patient and these are driven by many factors including pharmaceuticals. Hence apart from professional, moral and ethical obligations as care providers, it is imperative to deliver quality care cost effectively. Pharmacoeconomics, a branch of health care economics offers important guidance for the management of limited health care resources and medical practice. The purpose of this article is to provide an introduction of pharmacoeconomics, its various methods of evaluations such as cost minimization analysis (CMA), cost benefit analysis (CBA), cost utility analysis (CUA), cost effectiveness analysis (CEA) and guidelines to delivering quality care cost effectively and also throw light on the limitations of pharmacoeconomics.