[Should general practitioners consider the costs of their prescriptions? Reflections stemming from the "White Paper" and an opinion survey]

The British government proposal to introduce drug budgets will compel general practitioners to consider the financial consequences of prescribing. In our country, the practitioner neither in the past nor now has an incentive to consider the cost of his prescription, and few efforts have been made to influence it, if we exclude the pharmacy industry. In the present article, the situation of both countries is analyzed and the answers of the general practitioners of Girona and Scotland to questions that examine their predisposition towards considering costs when prescribing are compared. The reduction of the prescription costs must be formulated as a part of a rational prescription and should employ a combination of approaches: education, feedback, administrative changes, and incentives. The procedures to encourage a more efficient use of medicines require an active participation of the practitioners in managing the resources of their practices.