Conclusion: This study suggests that physicians do consider cost when presented with price information gathered from patients. Further research is needed to better understand additional factors influencing a physicians’ prescribing decisions.
About the Study: Midwestern retail chain Meijer offered a 14-day supply of certain generic oral antibiotics free of charge to customers with prescriptions. Employing difference-in-differences (DD), the researchers used the incidence of sales though Meijer and other retail outlets at the zip code level for each month from 2004 to 2007 in four states.