Formulary compliance and pharmacy labor costs associated with systematic formulary management strategy

Abstract

A comprehensive formulary management system resulted in increased compliance to a formulary that matched the needs of the institution and minimized the number of nonformulary medication requests. Expanding pharmacists' therapeutic interchange authorities was the least labor-intensive way of managing nonformulary medication requests, and adding the most frequently used nonformulary medications to the formulary was the second least costly option.

Going through the Motions: A Time-and- Motion Study of Workload Associated with Nonformulary Medication Orders

“…These times are longer than the time required for a typical order in the current study (8:38 min), but similar to the time required specifically for orders dispensed using patients' own medications (19:18 min). In a US study based on interview data, processing NF orders of all types required 4 to 69 min, 3 which reflects a range similar to the results presented here.…”

“…In one previous study, pharmacy personnel estimated the frequency of NF medication orders as 3.9% to 19.4% of all orders, with the average total time spent on NF medication orders between 4 and 69 min, depending on how the order was assessed and processed. 3 The least labour-intensive scenario involved switching an order for an NF medication to a therapeutically equivalent drug. The scenario that required the most time to process was when the medication was to be supplied by the hospital and had to be ordered from a supplier and repackaged.…”

“…The scenario that required the most time to process was when the medication was to be supplied by the hospital and had to be ordered from a supplier and repackaged. Although the study by Helmon and others 3 presents valuable information, the data were obtained through interviews rather than objective measurements, which may have introduced recollection bias.…”

Cost avoidance from dose rounding biologic and cytotoxic antineoplastics

“…2 At the local level, healthcare systems contend with the high cost of providing optimal evidence-based oncology care. 3,4 One strategy for reducing product inventory costs is to identify modifiable areas of product wastage in the medication delivery cycle of anticancer treatments. 3,5 The doses of most anticancer treatments are based on calculations using body surface area or weight.…”

Economic Outcomes Associated with a Pharmacist-Adjudicated Formulary Consult Service in a Veterans Affairs Medical Center

“…[10][11][12][13][14][15] However, there is a paucity of data regarding the economic impact of clinical pharmacist involvement in formulary management. [16][17][18][19][20]…”