Procedure for including drugs on the essential drugs list: An empirical analysis of decision-making factors

Goal: To identify the factors influencing decision-making by the Commission of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation regarding inclusion of new drugs in the Essential Drugs List. Methodology: A detailed analysis was conducted on the current procedure for forming drug lists established by Government Decree No. 871 of Russia. Regression methods were employed, including linear regression, logit-, and probit-models to determine dependencies between various factors and commission decisions about including a drug into the list. Results: Empirical analysis revealed that existing methodologies for health technology assessment contain shortcomings leading to distortions in decision-making processes. The performed regression analysis demonstrated no clear pattern between proposed characteristics of drugs and voting results of the Commission of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation. It is emphasized that further efforts are needed to improve the decision-making system and increase its transparency.