 |
||||||||
|
Home > Provider Resources > TRICARE Resources > Bulletins and Newsletters > Issue 2:2008 TOC > Articles 5 & 6 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
| Generic Drugs: As Good as Brand Names "A Department of Defense Policy Reminder " (Article 5) |
||||||||
| Considering the amount of advertising that you see for brand-name prescription medications like Allegra®, Prevacid® and Zoloft®, you may be inclined to prescribe a brand-name medication over a generic substitute. |
||||||||
| Yet, in many cases, there is a lowercost generic medication that will work just as well for your patient. Furthermore, Department of Defense policy mandates that TRICARE providers prescribe generic drugs whenever a generic equivalent exists. |
||||||||
|
Like brand-name medications, generic drugs must meet the same rigorous standards established by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for safety and quality. Therefore, in most patients, generic drugs will work just as well because they are virtually identical in terms of dosage, performance, usage and strength. |
||||||||
|
There are some instances in which TRICARE providers may prescribe a brand-name drug over a generic one. These include: |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
If you determine that a brand-name medication will work best for your patient and there is a generic equivalent, you must obtain prior authorization before the prescription can be filled. Once approved, the authorization may be applied to prescriptions filled through both the TRICARE Mail Order Pharmacy and retail network pharmacies. |
||||||||
| For instructions on obtaining prior authorization for brand-name medications, visit TRICARES Prior Authorization page. |
||||||||
|
Additional pharmacy information and tools can be found on the Provider portal of the TRICARE Web site. |
||||||||
|
|
||||||||
| Contacts (Article 6) | ||||||||
|
||||||||
|
|
||||||||
