Understanding the Post-Prescription Phase of New Drugs: Towards a Modeling Trial

Abstract

Purpose–Existing research on new drug prescriptions has primarily focused on the factors influencing physicians to initially prescribe a new medication. However, the post-prescription phase, where physicians decide to continue or discontinue a drug, has been less explored. The objective of this manuscript is to bridge this gap via assessing the key components of the post-prescription phase. Methodology–A total of 145 physicians participated in the quantitative survey through face-to-face interviews. Findings–The results revealed that the Post-Acceptance Model (PAM) (Bhattacherjee, 2001) predicts the consequences of prescribing new drugs. Specifically, the confirmation of physician expectations after the initial prescription of a new drug promotes physician satisfaction with the initially prescribed medication. This satisfaction is a direct predictor of the prescribing physician's attitudinal loyalty. It significantly influences the new drug continuance prescription intention and physician commitment, but to a lesser extent, the recommendation intention. These findings are relevant to pharmaceutical companies in implementing strategies to boost physicians' continuance intention to prescribe their new drugs. Originality/Value– Most studies have focused solely on product adoption, neglecting the importance of use continuance. This manuscript bridges this gap by concentrating on the post-prescription phase within the context of new drugs. Specifically, the paper constructs an expanded framework rooted in the PAM to investigate new drug prescription continuance.