Impact of a Pharmacist on Drug Costs in a Coronary Care Unit
Impact of a Pharmacist on Drug Costs in a Coronary Care Unit
The impact of clinical pharmacy services on direct drug costs in a coronary care unit (CCU) was studied.
An observational, nonrandomized study was conducted on all patients admitted to the CCU to evaluate the impact of clinical pharmacy services on direct drug costs. Clinical pharmacy services were introduced into the CCU in July 1998. Patient characteristics, mean drug costs per admission, mean drug category costs per admission, and total hospital costs per admission were determined for October 1997 to June 1998 (nonintervention period), July 1998 to March 1999 (intervention period 1), and April 1999 to December 1999 (intervention period 2). The Clini-Trend program was used to estimate the total reduction in drug costs associated with documented pharmacist interventions from January to December 1999.
Mean patient age, sex, admitting diagnosis- related group, Medicare case-mix index, ventilator days, length of stay, and number of deaths did not differ significantly among the three study periods. Mean ± S.D. drug costs per admission for the nonintervention period were $374.05 ± $75.51. With the introduction of clinical pharmacy services, mean ± S.D. drug costs per admission were $381.94 ± $66.16 (p > 0.1 for intervention period 1 compared with the nonintervention period) and $233.74 ± $84.16 (p = 0.002 for intervention period 2 compared with the nonintervention period). From January to December 1999, 4151 pharmacist interventions were documented. The estimated reduction in drug costs associated with the interventions totaled $372,384.
A pharmacist's clinical services in the CCU allowed for significant estimated reductions in total drug costs.
Rising drug costs continue to be a major problem in the United States. Since 1995, spending on prescription drugs has increased by almost 30%, reaching $100.6 billion in 1999. It does not appear that drug costs will stop rising soon; prescription drug expenditures are predicted to increase by 11.2% annually through 2001. The increase is primarily attributed to the introduction of novel and more expensive pharmacologic agents, growing utilization, increasing costs of generic products, and inflation.
Drug costs in the coronary care unit (CCU) at our institution have increased at an alarming rate. Mean drug costs per admission increased by 54% (from $242 to $374) between October 1996 and June 1997 and October 1997 and June 1998. Clearly, drug costs incurred by the pharmacy department had to be contained.
The economic value of clinical pharmacy services has been demonstrated in a wide variety of practice settings. However, economic evaluations of clinical pharmacy services in the CCU setting are scarce. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of clinical pharmacy services on direct drug costs in a CCU. A secondary objective was to calculate the estimated reduction in total drug costs associated with pharmacist interventions.
The impact of clinical pharmacy services on direct drug costs in a coronary care unit (CCU) was studied.
An observational, nonrandomized study was conducted on all patients admitted to the CCU to evaluate the impact of clinical pharmacy services on direct drug costs. Clinical pharmacy services were introduced into the CCU in July 1998. Patient characteristics, mean drug costs per admission, mean drug category costs per admission, and total hospital costs per admission were determined for October 1997 to June 1998 (nonintervention period), July 1998 to March 1999 (intervention period 1), and April 1999 to December 1999 (intervention period 2). The Clini-Trend program was used to estimate the total reduction in drug costs associated with documented pharmacist interventions from January to December 1999.
Mean patient age, sex, admitting diagnosis- related group, Medicare case-mix index, ventilator days, length of stay, and number of deaths did not differ significantly among the three study periods. Mean ± S.D. drug costs per admission for the nonintervention period were $374.05 ± $75.51. With the introduction of clinical pharmacy services, mean ± S.D. drug costs per admission were $381.94 ± $66.16 (p > 0.1 for intervention period 1 compared with the nonintervention period) and $233.74 ± $84.16 (p = 0.002 for intervention period 2 compared with the nonintervention period). From January to December 1999, 4151 pharmacist interventions were documented. The estimated reduction in drug costs associated with the interventions totaled $372,384.
A pharmacist's clinical services in the CCU allowed for significant estimated reductions in total drug costs.
Rising drug costs continue to be a major problem in the United States. Since 1995, spending on prescription drugs has increased by almost 30%, reaching $100.6 billion in 1999. It does not appear that drug costs will stop rising soon; prescription drug expenditures are predicted to increase by 11.2% annually through 2001. The increase is primarily attributed to the introduction of novel and more expensive pharmacologic agents, growing utilization, increasing costs of generic products, and inflation.
Drug costs in the coronary care unit (CCU) at our institution have increased at an alarming rate. Mean drug costs per admission increased by 54% (from $242 to $374) between October 1996 and June 1997 and October 1997 and June 1998. Clearly, drug costs incurred by the pharmacy department had to be contained.
The economic value of clinical pharmacy services has been demonstrated in a wide variety of practice settings. However, economic evaluations of clinical pharmacy services in the CCU setting are scarce. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of clinical pharmacy services on direct drug costs in a CCU. A secondary objective was to calculate the estimated reduction in total drug costs associated with pharmacist interventions.
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