Comparison of PCP Characteristics between High and Low PIM Prescribers
| Low Prescribers (Q1–Q3)a | High Prescribers (Q4)b | Difference P-Value | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean | SD | Mean | SD | ||
| PIM rate | 0.032 | 0.018 | 0.101 | 0.068 | .000 |
| PCP characteristics† | |||||
| Age | 51.6 | 11.0 | 52.8 | 11.7 | .000 |
| Female | 0.324 | 0.468 | 0.307 | 0.461 | .000 |
| DO degree | 0.126 | 0.332 | 0.149 | 0.356 | .000 |
| Medical school cohort | |||||
| Pre-1980 graduate | 0.180 | 0.384 | 0.213 | 0.409 | .000 |
| 1980–1989 graduate | 0.293 | 0.455 | 0.289 | 0.453 | .036 |
| 1990–1999 graduate | 0.314 | 0.464 | 0.301 | 0.459 | .000 |
| 2000–2009 graduate | 0.198 | 0.398 | 0.181 | 0.385 | .000 |
| 2010–present graduate | 0.015 | 0.122 | 0.016 | 0.126 | .049 |
| Primary care specialty | |||||
| Family medicine | 0.524 | 0.499 | 0.541 | 0.498 | .000 |
| Internal medicine | 0.445 | 0.497 | 0.422 | 0.494 | .000 |
| General practice | 0.022 | 0.147 | 0.034 | 0.182 | .000 |
| Geriatric medicine | 0.009 | 0.092 | 0.003 | 0.054 | .000 |
| Practice size (No. of providers)‡ | 336 | 888 | 252 | 725 | .000 |
| Q1 (1–5) | 0.303 | 0.460 | 0.375 | 0.484 | .000 |
| Q2 (6–65) | 0.244 | 0.429 | 0.227 | 0.419 | .000 |
| Q3 (66–300) | 0.231 | 0.421 | 0.215 | 0.411 | .000 |
| Q4 (300+) | 0.222 | 0.416 | 0.182 | 0.386 | .000 |
| Region of practice | |||||
| Northeast | 0.203 | 0.402 | 0.163 | 0.369 | .000 |
| Midwest | 0.274 | 0.446 | 0.184 | 0.388 | .000 |
| South | 0.314 | 0.464 | 0.463 | 0.499 | .000 |
| West | 0.209 | 0.407 | 0.190 | 0.392 | .000 |
| Patient panel size (Age 65+) | 324 | 211 | 311 | 207 | .000 |
| <50 | 0.019 | 0.135 | 0.031 | 0.173 | .000 |
| 50–199 | 0.273 | 0.446 | 0.311 | 0.463 | .000 |
| 200–499 | 0.548 | 0.498 | 0.500 | 0.500 | .000 |
| ≥500 | 0.160 | 0.367 | 0.159 | 0.365 | .294 |
| Number of PCP-year Observations | 209,901 | 69,957 | |||
| Number of PCPs** | 95,179 | 40,339 | |||
PCP, primary care physician; PIM, potentially inappropriate medication; Q, quartile; SD, standard deviation.
↵a Low prescribers included PCPs with PIM prescription rates in Q1-Q3.
↵b High prescribers were PCPs with PIM prescriptions rates ranked in the highest quartile, Q4.
↵** The total number of PCPs (111,461) in the sample is less than the total number of PCPs in the low and high prescriber groups (135,518). This is due to some PCPs being in different groups across multiple years.
↵† Data obtained from 2013-2015 Medicare Part D Public Use File and 2015 American Medical Association Masterfile.
↵‡ Data obtained from 2015 Physician Compare.