The Impact of Information Technology on the Diffusion of New Pharmaceuticals

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Arrow, Kenneth J.; Bilir, L. Kamran; Sorensen, Alan
• 署名单位: Stanford University; University of Wisconsin System; University of Wisconsin Madison
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-APPLIED ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7782
• DOI: 10.1257/app.20170647
• 发表日期: 2020
• 页码: 1-39
• 关键词: lipoprotein cholesterol; heart-disease; hybrid corn; adoption; PRODUCTIVITY; ezetimibe; simvastatin; INNOVATION; statins

摘要

Do information differences across US physicians contribute to treatment disparities? This paper uses a unique new dataset to evaluate how changes in physician access to a-decision-relevant drug database affect prescribing decisions. Our results indicate doctors using the reference have a significantly greater propensity to prescribe generic drugs, are faster to begin prescribing new generics, and pre-scribe a more diverse set of products. These results are consistent with database users responding primarily to the increased accessibility of -non-clinical information such as pricing and insurance formulary data, and suggest improvements to physician information access have important implications for aggregate healthcare costs.