title: Prescription costs become harder to swallow. Providers and payers get a big dose of reality with explosive spending and patient demand for new drugs.
abstract: Hospitals and managed-care organizations know that pharmacy costs are going to keep climbing. It's a question of how much and how quickly they can slow the growth of an expense that has become increasingly hard to swallow. Spending on prescription drugs is rising at 12% per year, more than double the 5% increase in national healthcare expenditures.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hensley
mesh_terms: D017047:Cost Sharing; D016527:Drug Costs / Q000639:trends*; D004345:Drug Industry; D004469:Economics, Hospital / Q000639:trends; D005569:Formularies as Topic; D017754:Group Purchasing; D005102:Health Expenditures / Q000639:trends*; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000191:economics / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D008329:Managed Care Programs / Q000191:economics / Q000639:trends; D010606:Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee; D014481:United States