Directions written for the obtaining and use of DRUGS.

Drugs that cannot be sold legally without a prescription.

The utilization of drugs as reported in individual hospital studies, FDA studies, marketing, or consumption, etc. This includes drug stockpiling, and patient drug profiles.

Errors in prescribing, dispensing, or administering medication with the result that the patient fails to receive the correct drug or the indicated proper drug dosage.

Patterns of practice related to diagnosis and treatment as especially influenced by cost of the service requested and provided.

Directions written for the obtaining and use of PHARMACEUTICAL PREPARATIONS; MEDICAL DEVICES; corrective LENSES; and a variety of other medical remedies.

Formal programs for assessing drug prescription against some standard. Drug utilization review may consider clinical appropriateness, cost effectiveness, and, in some cases, outcomes. Review is usually retrospective, but some analysis may be done before drugs are dispensed (as in computer systems which advise physicians when prescriptions are entered). Drug utilization review is mandated for Medicaid programs beginning in 1993.

Adjunctive computer programs in providing drug treatment to patients.

A loosely defined grouping of drugs that have effects on psychological function. Here the psychotropic agents include the antidepressive agents, hallucinogens, and tranquilizing agents (including the antipsychotics and anti-anxiety agents).

Improper use of drugs or medications outside the intended purpose, scope, or guidelines for use. This is in contrast to MEDICATION ADHERENCE, and distinguished from DRUG ABUSE, which is a deliberate or willful action.

The charge levied on the consumer for drugs or therapy prescribed under written order of a physician or other health professional.

Care which provides integrated, accessible health care services by clinicians who are accountable for addressing a large majority of personal health care needs, developing a sustained partnership with patients, and practicing in the context of family and community. (JAMA 1995;273(3):192)

A medical specialty concerned with the provision of continuing, comprehensive primary health care for the entire family.

A country in western Europe bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, the English Channel, the Mediterranean Sea, and the countries of Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, the principalities of Andorra and Monaco, and by the duchy of Luxembourg. Its capital is Paris.

Anti-inflammatory agents that are non-steroidal in nature. In addition to anti-inflammatory actions, they have analgesic, antipyretic, and platelet-inhibitory actions.They act by blocking the synthesis of prostaglandins by inhibiting cyclooxygenase, which converts arachidonic acid to cyclic endoperoxides, precursors of prostaglandins. Inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis accounts for their analgesic, antipyretic, and platelet-inhibitory actions; other mechanisms may contribute to their anti-inflammatory effects.

Studies used to test etiologic hypotheses in which inferences about an exposure to putative causal factors are derived from data relating to characteristics of persons under study or to events or experiences in their past. The essential feature is that some of the persons under study have the disease or outcome of interest and their characteristics are compared with those of unaffected persons.

Studies in which the presence or absence of disease or other health-related variables are determined in each member of the study population or in a representative sample at one particular time. This contrasts with LONGITUDINAL STUDIES which are followed over a period of time.

Insurance providing for payment of services rendered by the pharmacist. Services include the preparation and distribution of medical products.

Directions or principles presenting current or future rules of policy for assisting health care practitioners in patient care decisions regarding diagnosis, therapy, or related clinical circumstances. The guidelines may be developed by government agencies at any level, institutions, professional societies, governing boards, or by the convening of expert panels. The guidelines form a basis for the evaluation of all aspects of health care and delivery.

Predetermined sets of questions used to collect data - clinical data, social status, occupational group, etc. The term is often applied to a self-completed survey instrument.

The total number of cases of a given disease in a specified population at a designated time. It is differentiated from INCIDENCE, which refers to the number of new cases in the population at a given time.

An aspect of personal behavior or lifestyle, environmental exposure, or inborn or inherited characteristic, which, on the basis of epidemiologic evidence, is known to be associated with a health-related condition considered important to prevent.

Evaluation undertaken to assess the results or consequences of management and procedures used in combating disease in order to determine the efficacy, effectiveness, safety, and practicability of these interventions in individual cases or series.

The amount that a health care institution or organization pays for its drugs. It is one component of the final price that is charged to the consumer (FEES, PHARMACEUTICAL or PRESCRIPTION FEES).

Facilities for the preparation and dispensing of drugs.

The use of COMPUTER COMMUNICATION NETWORKS to store and transmit medical PRESCRIPTIONS.

Medicines that can be sold legally without a DRUG PRESCRIPTION.

A stand-alone drug plan offered by insurers and other private companies to beneficiaries that receive their Medicare Part A and/or B benefits through the Original Medicare Plan. It includes Medicare Private Fee-for-Service Plans that do not offer prescription drug coverage and Medicare Cost Plans offering Medicare prescription drug coverage. The plan was enacted as the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 with coverage beginning January 1, 2006.

Disorders related or resulting from abuse or mis-use of opioids.

The practice of administering medications in a manner that poses more risk than benefit, particularly where safer alternatives exist.

Drugs whose drug name is not protected by a trademark. They may be manufactured by several companies.

Laws concerned with manufacturing, dispensing, and marketing of drugs.

Works about lists of drugs or collections of recipes, formulas, and prescriptions for the compounding of medicinal preparations. Formularies differ from PHARMACOPOEIAS in that they are less complete, lacking full descriptions of the drugs, their formulations, analytic composition, chemical properties, etc. In hospitals, formularies list all drugs commonly stocked in the hospital pharmacy.

Compounds with activity like OPIATE ALKALOIDS, acting at OPIOID RECEPTORS. Properties include induction of ANALGESIA or NARCOSIS.

Amounts charged to the patient or third-party payer for medication. It includes the pharmacist's professional fee and cost of ingredients, containers, etc.

The self administration of medication not prescribed by a physician or in a manner not directed by a physician.

Provisions of an insurance policy that require the insured to pay some portion of covered expenses. Several forms of sharing are in use, e.g., deductibles, coinsurance, and copayments. Cost sharing does not refer to or include amounts paid in premiums for the coverage. (From Dictionary of Health Services Management, 2d ed)

Control of drug and narcotic use by international agreement, or by institutional systems for handling prescribed drugs. This includes regulations concerned with the manufacturing, dispensing, approval (DRUG APPROVAL), and marketing of drugs.

Use of written, printed, or graphic materials upon or accompanying a drug container or wrapper. It includes contents, indications, effects, dosages, routes, methods, frequency and duration of administration, warnings, hazards, contraindications, side effects, precautions, and other relevant information.

The transfer of prescription drugs from legal to illegal distribution and marketing networks.

Those persons legally qualified by education and training to engage in the practice of pharmacy.

Services providing pharmaceutic and therapeutic drug information and consultation.

Hospital department responsible for the receiving, storing, and distribution of pharmaceutical supplies.

The use of DRUGS to treat a DISEASE or its symptoms. One example is the use of ANTINEOPLASTIC AGENTS to treat CANCER.

Total pharmaceutical services provided to the public through community pharmacies.

The use of multiple drugs administered to the same patient, most commonly seen in elderly patients. It includes also the administration of excessive medication. Since in the United States most drugs are dispensed as single-agent formulations, polypharmacy, though using many drugs administered to the same patient, must be differentiated from DRUG COMBINATIONS, single preparations containing two or more drugs as a fixed dose, and from DRUG THERAPY, COMBINATION, two or more drugs administered separately for a combined effect. (From Segen, Dictionary of Modern Medicine, 1992)

Review of claims by insurance companies to determine liability and amount of payment for various services. The review may also include determination of eligibility of the claimant or beneficiary or of the provider of the benefit; determination that the benefit is covered or not payable under another policy; or determination that the service was necessary and of reasonable cost and quality.

Voluntary cooperation of the patient in following a prescribed regimen.

Substances that reduce the growth or reproduction of BACTERIA.

Payments or services provided under stated circumstances under the terms of an insurance policy. In prepayment programs, benefits are the services the programs will provide at defined locations and to the extent needed.

Total pharmaceutical services provided by qualified PHARMACISTS. In addition to the preparation and distribution of medical products, they may include consultative services provided to agencies and institutions which do not have a qualified pharmacist.

Voluntary cooperation of the patient in taking drugs or medicine as prescribed. This includes timing, dosage, and frequency.

Disorders related to substance abuse.

That segment of commercial enterprise devoted to the design, development, and manufacture of chemical products for use in the diagnosis and treatment of disease, disability, or other dysfunction, or to improve function.

The practice of prescribing or using a drug outside the scope of the drug's official approved label as designated by a regulatory agency concerning the treatment of a particular disease or condition.

The practice of compounding and dispensing medicinal preparations.

Cost-sharing mechanisms that provide for payment by the insured of some portion of covered expenses. Deductibles are the amounts paid by the insured under a health insurance contract before benefits become payable; coinsurance is the provision under which the insured pays part of the medical bill, usually according to a fixed percentage, when benefits become payable.

Information systems, usually computer-assisted, designed to store, manipulate, and retrieve information for planning, organizing, directing, and controlling administrative activities associated with the provision and utilization of clinical pharmacy services.

Extensive collections, reputedly complete, of facts and data garnered from material of a specialized subject area and made available for analysis and application. The collection can be automated by various contemporary methods for retrieval. The concept should be differentiated from DATABASES, BIBLIOGRAPHIC which is restricted to collections of bibliographic references.

The science concerned with the benefit and risk of drugs used in populations and the analysis of the outcomes of drug therapies. Pharmacoepidemiologic data come from both clinical trials and epidemiological studies with emphasis on methods for the detection and evaluation of drug-related adverse effects, assessment of risk vs benefit ratios in drug therapy, patterns of drug utilization, the cost-effectiveness of specific drugs, methodology of postmarketing surveillance, and the relation between pharmacoepidemiology and the formulation and interpretation of regulatory guidelines. (Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf 1992;1(1); J Pharmacoepidemiol 1990;1(1))

Drugs intended for human or veterinary use, presented in their finished dosage form. Included here are materials used in the preparation and/or formulation of the finished dosage form.

A semisynthetic derivative of CODEINE.

The amounts spent by individuals, groups, nations, or private or public organizations for total health care and/or its various components. These amounts may or may not be equivalent to the actual costs (HEALTH CARE COSTS) and may or may not be shared among the patient, insurers, and/or employers.

Conformity in fulfilling or following official, recognized, or institutional requirements, guidelines, recommendations, protocols, pathways, or other standards.

The containment, regulation, or restraint of costs. Costs are said to be contained when the value of resources committed to an activity is not considered excessive. This determination is frequently subjective and dependent upon the specific geographic area of the activity being measured. (From Dictionary of Health Services Management, 2d ed)

Federal program, created by Public Law 89-97, Title XVIII-Health Insurance for the Aged, a 1965 amendment to the Social Security Act, that provides health insurance benefits to persons over the age of 65 and others eligible for Social Security benefits. It consists of two separate but coordinated programs: hospital insurance (MEDICARE PART A) and supplementary medical insurance (MEDICARE PART B). (Hospital Administration Terminology, AHA, 2d ed and A Discursive Dictionary of Health Care, US House of Representatives, 1976)

Federal program, created by Public Law 89-97, Title XIX, a 1965 amendment to the Social Security Act, administered by the states, that provides health care benefits to indigent and medically indigent persons.

A loosely defined group of drugs that tend to increase behavioral alertness, agitation, or excitation. They work by a variety of mechanisms, but usually not by direct excitation of neurons. The many drugs that have such actions as side effects to their main therapeutic use are not included here.