The Tennessean is reporting today that "Tennesseans lead nation in prescriptions," stating that, "Tennesseans use more prescription drugs than any other state in the nation — an average of 17.3 prescriptions for every man, woman and child, according to a new study by BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee. The state's prescription drug spending topped $7 billion in 2005, according to the insurer's latest report. The national average is 11.3 prescriptions per person." If Tennesseans are receiving too many, unnecessary prescriptions, that's a problem.
However, the article states, "That figure includes everything from people who take dozens of pills per day to people who take a single prescription but refill it every month and are recorded as taking 12 prescriptions that year." That's the part that makes no sense. If what the Tennessean reports is true, every woman in the state who refills birth control every month would be counted as taking 12 prescriptions, when they are only taking one drug on a regular basis. It is also unclear whether this includes only prescriptions that an individual goes to a pharmacy to fill, or whether it would include every drug administered during a hospitalization, and how many of the prescriptions are chronic, or everyday pills, as opposed, for example, to antibiotics for a short-term illness. The Tennessean piece lists several "chronic" drugs for chronic conditions among the list, so I wonder if those are contributing to overcounting the number of drugs people are truly taking.
Tennessee certainly has problems in healthcare management. "Tennessee ranks 47th nationwide in the health of its residents. It has some of the nation's highest rates of drug-resistant infections and accidental drug overdoses...'We are over-prescribing. That much is clear," said Dr. William Schaffner, an epidemiologist and chairman of preventive medicine at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. 'It's not that the doctors in all the other 49 states are getting it wrong and we're on the right track. ... It's a matter that has puzzled us for some time.'" Maybe the doctors and hospitals and health administrators are getting more detailed data that answers some of these questions about counting. If not, then I suspect we'll continue to be puzzled, because the Tennessean's report doesn't include enough information on the findings and methodology to make any valid observations about the state of prescription-writing in the State. Not having a clear representation of the true picture is bound to hinder progress in making the necessary corrections.
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MeSH Tags: Prescriptions, Drug; Tennessee
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