Determinants of public expenditures for medicinal products in non hospital consumption in Slovenia

The Slovenian government aims to regulate prices for medicinal products to manage and reduce expenditures for medicinal products. This paper aims to investigate the association between regulated wholesale prices of medicinal products and the public expenditures for medicinal , and to estimate regression model for public expenditures for medicinal products in the hospital consumption. In the empirical research are included 758 regulated prices for medicinal prescribed by the outpatients’ department on a prescription (Rp) during the years 2003–2010, which are financed from public expenditures. The correlation and regression analyses used in order to establish the association between the regulated wholesale prices for medicinal and the public expenditures for medicinal products. The correlation analysis confirmed positive correlation of the public expenditures for medicinal products with the number of or the number of boxes on the Rp prescription, a weak correlation with the wholesale prices for products and with the classification lists of medicinal products. The multiple regression confirmed a positive significant impact of the wholesale price of medicinal products and number of Rp or the number of boxes on the Rp prescription, on the public expenditures for products. The research has confirmed the association of the public expenditures for products with the regulated wholesale prices for medicinal products. It has underlined the of the rational prescription and use of medicinal products. The explanatory variables in the regression model for the public expenditures for medicinal products explained up to 94% of variability in the public expenditures for medicinal products.