Drug company programs that offer free medicines to the poor are too time-consuming and complex for some health clinics that serve mostly low-income patients, according to a survey released on Tuesday.

Of 214 clinics in five states that were surveyed in 2002, forty-eight said they did not participate in patient assistance programs that provide free medicines to people who cannot afford them.

More than two thirds of the clinics that did not take part said the programs were cumbersome and took too much time. Some companies required tax returns and made other unrealistic demands for income documentation, the survey said.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, an industry group, has encouraged companies to simplify application forms, spokesman Ken Johnson said.

“Can we do a better job? Yes, and we will,” he said.

Early next month, the industry will unveil a new program that will provide one-stop access to 275 existing patient assistance programs, Johnson said.

“We are going to make it easier and quicker to obtain information,” he said, adding that millions of people already get free or discounted drugs from manufacturers each year.

The health-clinic survey found the drug donation programs consumed an average of 12 hours of pharmacist time, and 99 hours of other staff time, per month.

While clinic staff believed the donated drugs filled an important need, they “don’t understand why complicated and changing programs must take so much time away from patient care,” said Kathryn Duke, the study’s lead author and director for the Medicine for People in Need program of the nonprofit Public Health Institute.

The study, funded by the philanthropic California Health Care Foundation, will be published in the April 1st edition of the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy.

Charitable programs from GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Novartis AG and Schering-Plough Corp. were identified as least likely to be used, while others offered by Pfizer Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Merck & Co. Inc. were used most frequently.

GlaxoSmithKline spokeswoman Patricia Seif said the company donated medicines worth $372 million last year to U.S. patients. “We try to make it easy” to participate, she said, adding that many patients get the requested drugs the same day.