Rational Drug Use and equivalent drugs price analysis in prescription

Nowadays, with the increase in drug use and drug diversity, the necessity of making people aware of drug use has occurred. At this point, the concept of ‘Rational Drug Use’ has emerged. ‘Rational Drug Use’ requires getting drugs pursuant to treatment, at the required dose, and the lowest cost. Although drugs on the market are numerous, many of them have the same functions. These drugs are called equivalent drugs and they have the same pharmacological effect as the original drugs and provide the patient with the same treatment. In this study, especially the equivalent drug use at the lowest cost of rational drug use was examined. The aim of this study is to reveal the cost difference between original drug and equivalent drug that can make the same treatment. As a sample, 4417 prescription data was collected based on their diagnosis codes; 183 individuals from Alsancak İzmir, 1748 individuals from Güzelyalı İzmir, 925 individuals from Konak İzmir, 155 individuals from Acipayam Denizli, and 1406 individuals from Esenyurt İstanbul. According to the analysis of the sample data, the most common five diagnosis codes were selected. The percentage rates of diagnosis codes were investigated per region. Also differences between the price of drugs in prescriptions and that of their lowest cost equivalents were investigated. The diagnosis code analysis results show, if lower cost equivalent drugs are used for treatment, not only the same result will appear but also a lower cost will be paid by patients and institutions. The amount of serious figures reached in this sample data show that, if generalized, health cost will decrease throughout the country.