Effectiveness of long-term prescription of hypertensive and diabetic drugs in family doctor contracted service

Abstract

Objective To assess the effectiveness of long-term prescriptions of hypertensive and diabetic drugs in family doctor contracted service. Methods A survey on long-term prescription in family doctor contract service was conducted from November 2015 to December 2015 in Shanghai Changning district. Ten center managers, 101 family doctors and 208 contracted patients from 10 community health service centers were surveyed with 3 different types of questionnaires, respectively. The relevant information of long-term prescription, including medication information, health management, contracted service, patient′s acceptance and performance status were collected and assessed. Results The 1-month and 2-month prescriptions accounted for 76.5% (156/204) and 13.2% (27/204), respectively. The survey showed that 87.1% (88/101) of family doctors were willing to make long-term prescriptions; 95.6% (195/204) of patients felt convenience of long-term prescription; 88.1% (89/101) of family doctors affirmed that long-term prescriptions effectively reduced the number of re-visits; 93.6% (191/204) of patients thought that long-term prescriptions reduced the visit number and 60.8% (124/204) thought that it reduced medical expenses. The main factors influencing family doctors′ choice of long-term prescription were the stability of disease condition (72.3%, 73/101), the compliance of patients (68.3%, 69/101), the accurate diagnosis (50.5%, 51/101) and long-term regular medication (45.5%, 46/101); 70.6% (144/204) of patients thought that the hypertensive and diabetic drugs included in the long-term prescription catalogue met their needs. Conclusion The long-term prescriptions can effectively reduce the re-visits and medical expenses of patients, which is highly recognized and accepted by both family doctors and patients. Key words: Prescription; Chronic disease; Hypertension; Diabetes mellitus