Costs of prescriptions for acne/rosacea from specialists are higher than those from primary care physicians and could be reduced by choosing generic and less expensive options, a recent study found. A cross-sectional study was performed of the 2008 and 2010 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Prescription Drug Profiles, which contains 100% of Medicare part D claims. Researchers found:

• Topical antibiotics accounted for 63% of all prescriptions.
• Patients ≥65 years utilized more oral tetracycline-class antibiotics and less topical retinoids.
• Specialists prescribed brand name drugs for the most common topical retinoids and most common topical antibiotics more frequently than family medicine/internal medicine (FM/IM) physicians by 6%-7%.
• Topical retinoids prescribed by specialists were, on average, $18-$20 more in total cost and $2-$3 more in patient cost than the same types of prescriptions from FM/IM physicians per 30-day supply.
• Specialists (60%) and IM physicians (56%) prescribed over twice the rate of branded doxycycline than FM doctors did (27%).