IMS Health Study Points to a Declining Cost Curve for U.S. Medicines in 2012
IMS HealthBob Linton, + 1-610-244-2600
Total spending on U.S. medicines fell 3.5 percent on a real per capita basis in 2012 and the use of healthcare services overall declined for the second consecutive year, according to a new study released today by the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics.
The report – – finds that total dollars spent on medications in the U.S. reached $325.8 billion last year, or real per capita spending of $898, down $33 from 2011. Underlying drivers for the overall decline in healthcare service use included fewer patient visits to office-based physicians, fewer non-emergency admissions to hospitals and outpatient facilities, and a less severe flu season in the early part of 2012. Patent expires in 2012 contributed $28.9 billion to the reduction in medicine spending. This was their largest-ever impact as millions of patients accessed lower-cost generic versions of additional medicines.
Patients with insurance paid higher deductibles, copays and co-insurance for their overall healthcare, but prescription drug copays for most patients declined. At the same time, new transformative medicines became available to treat a large number of diseases with small or strictly defined patient populations.
“The cost curve for medicines was clearly bent in 2012, for better or for worse,” said Murray Aitken, executive director, IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics. “To some extent, this is a harbinger of more efficient use of our healthcare resources, but it also reflects a decline in utilization that may be the result of under-treatment and an imbalance between prevention and care. On the eve of the most transformative period in U.S. healthcare, understanding the drivers of this cost-curve reduction is critical to effectively addressing the long-term implications.”
The report’s key findings include the following:
The full report is available at . The report can also be downloaded as an app via iTunes. The study was produced independently as a public service, without industry or government funding.
IMS National Sales PerspectivesIMS National Prescription AuditNPA Market DynamicsIMS National Disease and Therapeutic IndexVector One:National, Vector One: PayerPharMetrics Plus, FANIMS MIDAS
The IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics provides key policy setters and decision makers in the global health sector with unique and transformational insights into healthcare dynamics derived from granular analysis of information. It is a research-driven entity with a worldwide reach that collaborates with external healthcare experts from across academia and the public and private sectors to objectively apply IMS’s proprietary global information and analytical assets. More information about the IMS Institute can be found at: .
IMS Health is a leading worldwide provider of information, technology, and services dedicated to making healthcare perform better. With a global technology infrastructure and unique combination of real-world evidence, advanced analytics and proprietary software platforms, IMS Health connects knowledge across all aspects of healthcare to help clients improve patient outcomes and operate more efficiently. The company’s expert resources draw on data from nearly 100,000 suppliers, and on insights from 39 billion healthcare transactions processed annually, to serve more than 5,000 healthcare clients globally. Customers include pharmaceutical, medical device and consumer health manufacturers and distributors, providers, payers, government agencies, policymakers, researchers and the financial community. Additional information is available at .