2. Data according to the principal ATC-classes
Let us, for example, have a look to the repartition of the insurance cost of reimbursed medicines according to the principal ATC-classes and to the corresponding repartition of the consumption (expressed in DDD) :
These two pies represent each the global repartition in 2011 (complete year). The five classes that are the most important ones in the expenses are represented (C N L A J) as are the five important ones in DDD (C A N R B). In each pie, the remaining slice totals the ensemble of the remaining classes. The C, A, et N are common to both 2 TOP5. The class C (cardiovascular system) is clearly the most important one, as well in expenses as in consumption: it represents nearly a quarter of the expenses and 40% of the DDD.
Classes L and J appear in the pie of the expenses, but they don’t figure in the pie of the DDD : this means that the medicines in these classes are relatively expensive. Classes B and R, on the other hand, are visible in the DDD-pie but we don’t see them in the pie of the expenses, which means that the medicines in these classes are rather often prescribed, and also rather cheap. But it is clear that the monetary value of a DDD is not the only parameter to take into account when evaluating a medicine. In this illustration however, we limited ourselves to the budgetary aspects and we took not into account other pharmaco-economic considerations, such as QALY, for example.
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