Vo lume 12  Issue 3 Jo urna l o f the Asso c ia tio n fo r Info rm a tio n A b stra c t Sp e c ia l Issue Tsip i He a rt Be n-G urio n Unive rsity o f the Ne g e v he a rt@ b g u.a c .il Yisra e l Pa rm e t Be n-G urio n Unive rsity o f the Ne g e v ip a rme t@ b g u.a c .il Na va Pliskin Be n-G urio n Unive rsity o f the Ne g e v p liskinn@ b g u.a c .il The o b je c tive o f this stud y wa s to inve stig a te p hysic ia ns' c o m p lia nc e with re c o m m e nd a tio ns fo r d rug sub stitute s e m b e d d e d within a n e le c tro nic m e d ic a l re c o rd , to a sse ss fa c to rs a ffe c ting c o m p lia nc e , a nd to e va lua te a sso c ia te d c o st sa ving s. An e xp lo ra to ry stud y o f a ll p hysic ia ns in a ll c linic s o p e ra te d b y a la rg e he a lth ma inte na nc e o rg a niza tio n (HMO ) wa s c o nd uc te d using a tra nsp a re nt c o m p ute rize d a g e nt tha t c o lle c te d 1.21 m illio n p re sc rip tio ns p re sc rib e d b y 647 p hysic ia ns. C o m p lia nc e with HMO re c o m m e nd a tio ns fo r sub stitute d rug s re a c he d a 70 p e rc e nt ra te . Sub stitute typ e , whe the r g e ne ric o r the ra p e utic , wa s fo und to b e the mo st sig nific a nt fa c to r a ffe c ting c o m p lia nc e , with p hysic ia n wo rklo a d a nd a g e se c o nd a nd third in e ffe c t magnitude, respectively. Compliance was found to be non-a uto ma tic a nd se le c tive , fo llo wing a tho ug htful c o g nitive p ro c e ss. The HMO re a lize d a t le a st a 4 p e rc e nt re duc tio n in c o sts fo r p re sc rib e d drug s a s a re sult o f c o m p lia nc e with sub stitute re c o m m e nd a tio ns. The re sults c a n b e inte rp re te d via the le ns o f O rg a niza tio na l Justic e The o ry, a ssum ing tha t the b ro a d c o m p lia nc e with g e ne ric sub stitute s wa s d rive n b y p e rc e p tio n o f just p ro c e d ure s, whe re a s the re wa s no suc h p e rc e p tio n in the c a se o f the ra p e utic sub stitute s. While mo re re se a rc h is wa rra nte d fo r inve stig a ting the mo tivatio ns driving physic ia ns' c o mplia nc e , we stro ng ly fe e l that the re sults c a n b e g e ne ra lize d to o the r HMO s a nd he a lthc a re se tting s. Ke y wo rds: He a lth C a re IT (Sp e c ia l Issue ), Ele c tro nic Me d ic a l Re c o rd , Physic ia n C o m p lia nc e , Drug C o st C o nta inm e nt, O rg a niza tio na l Justic e The o ry. Vo lume 12, Sp e c ia l Issue , p p . 235-254, Ma rc h 2011 Inve stig a ting Physic ia ns' C o m p lia nc e with Drug Pre sc rip tio n No tific a tio ns * Fa y C o b b Pa yto n, G uy Pa ré , C ynthia Le Ro ug e , a nd Ma d hu Re d d y w e re the a c c e p ting g ue st e d ito rs. This a rtic le wa s sub mitte d o n 6th June 2010 a nd we nt thro ug h two re visio ns. Allo n Zuke r Ro shto v So ftw a re Inc . a llo n@ ro shto v.c o m Jo se p h S Pliskin Be n-G urio n Unive rsity o f the Ne g e v jp liskin@ b g u.a c .il