A Prescription for Quality

Concern over prescription drug policy in Canada has been fueled by the growth in expenditures. Prescription drugs are the fastest growing component of Canadian health care expenditures. As drug costs escalate, questions have emerged about how to ensure the optimal use of medications, guarantee patient safety, and better manage public prescription drug benefits.

This policy paper offers recommendations on six areas of particular importance to physicians in British Columbia:

1. Prescription drug expenditures
2. BC’s PharmaCare program
3. The promotion of prescription drugs (to both doctors and patients)
4. Information technology (and its relationship to patient safety)
5. Professional roles in prescribing
6. The National Pharmaceuticals Strategy

The Doctors of BC Prescription Drug Project Group conducted a review of the relevant peer-reviewed literature, a review of the literature produced by various stakeholders including governments and policy think tanks, and a survey of the Doctors of BC membership in November 2006 on prescription drug policy.

Twenty-four recommendations are offered.

For the full policy paper, please see “A Prescription for Quality”.