The Impact of the National Centralized VolumeBased Procurement Policy on the Utilization of Antischizophrenic Drugs in a Certain Hospital

Objective To analyze the impact of the implementation of the national centralized volume-based procurement(NCVBP) policy on the utilization of antischizophrenic drugs in the Affiliated Hospital of West Anhui Health Vocational College. Methods Data on antischizophrenic drugs before (2019) and after(2020) the implementation of the NCVBP policy were erxtracted, and drug prices and sales were compared. The utilization frequency and patients’ cost burden were evaluated by defined daily dose (DDD), defined daily dose system (DDDs), and defined daily dose cost (DDDc). Results During the NCVBP implementation period, the total number of tablets dispensed increased by 17.87% year-on-year, while the total amount used (monetary) decreased by 32.44% year-on-year. Specifically, the utilization of centrally procured drugs increased by 292.37%, whereas their total amount used decreased by 11.10%; the utilization of non-centrally procured drugs decreased by 14.42%, and their total amount used decreased by 37.29%. The average treatment cost and medication cost per outpatient visit decreased by 6.33% and 6.61%, respectively; the average hospitalization treatment cost per admission increased by 2.92%. However, the outpatient medication cost ratio, average hospitalization medication cost per admission, and hospitalization medication cost ratio decreased by 0.30%, 8.94%, and 11.53%, respectively. After NCVBP implementation, the top three drugs in terms of DDDs were nonselected aripiprazole orally disintegrating tablets (5 mg× 20 tablets), selected olanzapine tablets (5 mg× 14 tablets), and risperidone tablets (1 mg× 30 tablets), and the DDDc of several specifications of olanzapine tablets and risperidone tablets decreased significantly, with the largest decrease observed in the selected risperidone tablets (1 mg× 30 tablets). Conclusion The NCVBP policy has achieved remarkable results in reducing patients’ economic burden, yet with the need for more varieties of cetralized procurement antischizophrenic drugs.