[Effects of the Health Structure Regulation on prescribing behavior of established physicians]

Abstract

In 1992 the German Federal Minister of Health enacted a new law to secure the health insurance system by budgeting the expenses for prescriptions among else. The data derived from a sample of computer-assisted private practices show a significant decline of prescriptions both in natural units and in value since 1993, but the analysis of the patients' data also reveals a more or less deliberate pattern of procedure followed by the GPs with regard to certain groups of patients such as elderly or chronically ill patients.