In many states across the country, policymakers are debating whether doctors should be paid significantly more than pharmacies for dispensing the same drug. Policymakers in Tennessee adopted new rules, effective August 9, 2012, to address the rapid increase in physician dispensing and associated costs. Tennessee is one of 18 states that have made significant changes to such reimbursement rules in the past 10 years.   

This study, Early Impact of Tennessee Reforms on Physician Dispensing, examines the early results of Tennessee’s changes to the rules governing reimbursement to Tennessee physicians for prescriptions that they both write and dispense. The data used in this analysis came from payors in Tennessee that represented 55 percent of all medical claims in the state workers’ compensation system, covering physician- and pharmacy-dispensed prescriptions filled by injured workers through March 2013.

Early Impact of Tennessee Reforms on Physician Dispensing. Dongchun Wang, Vennela Thumula, and Te-Chun Liu. December 2014. WC-14-55

Copyright: WCRI