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National survey of pharmaceutical services in psychiatric hospitals.

The results of a summer 1989 nationwide mail survey of psychiatric hospital pharmaceutical services are reported and discussed. A simple random sample of 200 hospitals was selected from 600 psychiatric hospitals registered by the American Hospital Association. Questionnaires were mailed to the director of pharmacy at each institution. Usable responses were received from 114 hospitals, for a net response rate of 57%. Responses were categorized by hospital size, ownership status, geographic region, and average length of stay. Substantial differences were noted between government and nongovernment hospitals in the number and types of pharmaceutical services provided, as well as in the manner in which services are provided. Non-government hospitals generally appeared to offer more progressive pharmaceutical services. Psychiatric hospitals in western states appeared to offer more advanced clinical pharmacy services than institutions in other geographic areas. The survey established baseline data on the nature and extent of both clinical and distributive services in psychiatric hospital pharmacy departments.

Clinical Pharmacy Information Systems↗

Pharmacies, self-medication and pharmaceutical marketing in Bombay, India.

Studies of pharmaceutical practice have called attention to the role played by pharmacists and pharmacy attendants in fostering self-medication and medicine experimentation among the public. Left undocumented is the extent to which clients passively follow the advice of pharmacy personnel or question their motive or expertise. While research has focused on pharmacists and pharmacy attendants as agents encouraging self-medication and medicine experimentation, adequate attention has not been paid to pharmacist-client interactions that are sensitive to the social, cultural, and economic context in which medicine sales and advice occur. This paper highlights the context in which pharmacy attendants engage in "prescribing medicines" to the public in Bombay, India. An ethnographic description of pharmacies and pharmaceutical-related behavior in Bombay is provided to demonstrate how reciprocal relationships between pharmacy owners, medicine wholesalers and pharmaceutical sales representatives (medreps) influence the actions of pharmacy staff. Attention is focused on the role of the medicine marketing and distribution system in fostering prescription practice, pharmacy "counter-pushing" and self-medication. In documenting the profit motives of different players located on the drug sales continuum, it is argued that the economic rationale and the symbiotic relations that exist between doctors, medreps, medicine wholesalers and retailers, need to be more closely scrutinized by those advocating "rational drug use".

Drug Prescriptions↗

National survey of hospital-based pharmacokinetic services.

The status of pharmacokinetic services in the nation's hospitals was studied. A questionnaire was mailed in February 1995 to all 252 respondents to ASHP's 1994 national survey of hospital-based pharmaceutical services who indicated the provision of pharmacokinetic services in their institution. Ninety-eight completed questionnaires were returned (40.2% response rate). The pharmacokinetic services provided required an average of 19.1 person-hours per week, tended to be provided by staff pharmacists, were managed by the pharmacy department, tended to be most focused on aminoglycosides and vancomycin, required an average of 60 notes in patient charts per month, and relied on both computers and calculators for deriving values. There was little contact with patients during the consultation process. Drug concentration measurements tended to be scheduled by service providers, but confidence in the accuracy of the timing of dose administration and blood sampling was limited. Respondents believed that the services tended to be supported by other hospital personnel and that they were successful. There was very little expectation that the workload for providing pharmacokinetic services would increase in the near future. A national survey of hospital-based pharmacokinetic services showed that it took 19 hours per week on average to provide the services, that the focus was on aminoglycosides and vancomycin, and that the services were perceived to be supported by other departments.

Drug Monitoring↗

Implementation of mobile decentralized pharmaceutical services in a community teaching hospital.

Administrative strategies that were used to justify mobile decentralized pharmaceutical services in a community teaching hospital are discussed. The report describes the problems prompting the pharmacy's review of its centralized unit dose drug distribution and i.v. admixture services, the evaluation of alternative solutions, the proposal submitted to hospital administrators, the implementation process, and an analysis of fiscal impact. A decentralized system using mobile medication carts was considered the best alternative because it integrated distributive and clinical functions and offered efficiencies in drug distribution; anticipated capital expenditure costs and personnel costs were also lower than the costs of alternatives. The conversion to the new system increased the pharmacy personnel budget by $174,455 annually, representing the addition of 13.8 full-time equivalent (FTE) pharmacists and elimination of 10.4 FTE technicians and interns. The increased personnel budget was offset in fiscal year (FY) 1982-83 by documented savings of $47,000 from pharmacists' clinical activities and by calculated savings of $132,400 in nursing time. Excluding capital expenditures of $19,800 for the medication carts, implementing mobile decentralized services saved the hospital $4945 in FY 1982-83. Mobile decentralized services is a cost-effective approach for providing integrated drug distribution and clinical pharmacy services.

Costs and Cost Analysis↗

Detection of medication nonadherence through review of pharmacy claims data.

The utility of pharmacy claims data in detecting improper medication use, medication changes, and formulary adherence was assessed. Pharmacists provided six months of pharmacy claims data to primary care physicians for patients on the day of their scheduled clinic appointments. Similar data, not supplied to physicians, were generated for a matched population of patients on the day of their scheduled clinic appointments. A blinded pharmacist abstracter reviewed dictated office notes for both control and treatment groups. Medication adherence and medication changes were assessed by the abstracter as well as the difference in total medication costs for each of the groups before and after the pharmacy claims data were supplied. Surveys were distributed to physicians to determine whether pharmaceutical care was improved by the pharmacy claims data. In the treatment group, physicians detected medication nonadherence in 30.5% of their patients, while the abstracter noted nonadherence in 58.1% of patients. Physicians failed to detect any nonadherence in the control group, but the abstractor detected nonadherence in 57.1% of these patients. Changes in medication regimens occurred more often in the treatment group (p < 0.001). The mean percentage of patients switched to formulary agents significantly differed between the treatment and control groups (27.7% versus 0.0%, respectively) (p < 0.001). There were no differences in median drug costs for either group before or after the pharmacy claims data were provided. Provision of pharmacy claims data to physicians helped them detect medication nonadherence, evaluate therapeutic duplication or omissions, increase formulary use, and reduce the time required to obtain an accurate medication history.

Chi-Square Distribution↗

Justification for a pediatric satellite pharmacy at a tertiary-care institution.

The justification for a pediatric satellite pharmacy is described. Of the 742 inpatient beds in a tertiary-care medical center, 150 are dedicated to pediatric patients. The pharmacy department provides services to both adult and pediatric patients from a central pharmacy. However, unit dose drug distribution services are not provided to the nurseries. Furthermore, the department lacks a core of pharmacists specializing in pediatric practice. As a result, the ability of the pharmacy to support pediatric drug use has been compromised, and medication errors and infection control problems have occurred that can be attributed to this situation. A pediatric satellite pharmacy was proposed to improve the quality of pediatric care. Service objectives were established, and benefits were identified. A financial analysis was included in the proposal that documented a total gain attributable to a pediatric satellite pharmacy of approximately $285,000 over five years. The satellite pharmacy was approved by hospital administration. The pharmacy department's quality assurance committee will monitor the satellite's impact. The justification for a proposed pediatric satellite pharmacy included indications that the satellite could correct medication-related problems and improve pediatric care and that implementation would have a positive effect on finances.

Child, Preschool↗

Access to health care in urban areas of developing societies.

Emphasis on rural health problems has led to a relative neglect of urban health issues in developing societies. Yet the fact that a large proportion of the limited financial and human resources is allocated to urban health care makes it imperative for researchers and health planners to evaluate the effectiveness of the urban health care system. This paper examines data on health care utilization from a sample survey of 1500 households conducted in three areas of Accra, Ghana in 1982. The factors that influence the use of three types of health care services (clinics, drug vendors, and traditional healers) are examined. Suggestions are made for increasing the effectiveness of the health care system in Accra, with the aim of making medical care more accessible to all families.

Community Health Services↗

[Distribution of free equipment to intravenous drug addicts in Copenhagen].

Since HIV-infection was recognized in Denmark in the middle of the 80'ies, the authorities have tried to prevent spread of the infection by common educational information. Besides this, special interest was focussed on transmission between members in certain subgroups at high risk. Amongst these are intravenous drug users because of their common needle-sharing. Intravenous drug users constitute the second largest group of HIV infected individuals in Denmark as well as abroad, and it is from this primary high risk group that heterosexual transmission is most feared. In order to prevent this, the urgent need in stopping transmission among the members of the subpopulation itself as early as possible was realized. In order to achieve this, the municipalities of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg and Copenhagen County have distributed free needles and syringes from pharmacies during the past five years. The free needle arrangement is described in figures as well by interviews with a number of intravenous drug users seen as customers at Pharmacy of Istedgade, Copenhagen V. A total of 3 million needles and syringes have been distributed through the period and the arrangement seems to have been a success, although difficulties are great outside normal opening hours and for the imprisoned. Further and expanded distribution possibilities and new ways of thinking are recommended in order to achieve greater compliance amongst intravenous drug addicts.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

Impact of social marketing on contraceptive prevalence and cost in Honduras.

In 1984, the Honduran Family Planning Association launched a contraceptive social marketing program by introducing the oral contraceptive, Perla. This report examines the impact of the program on overall oral contraceptive use, use by particular subgroups, source of supply, and costs. Although use of oral contraceptives increased only slightly over the period 1984-87 (from 12.7 percent to 13.4 percent among women in union aged 15-44), the social marketing program significantly increased its share of the oral contraceptive market (from 7 percent in 1984 to 15 percent in 1987, and from 20 percent to 40 percent of sales at pharmacies). For the Honduran Family Planning Association to have realized cost savings as a result of clients switching from community-based distribution programs and commercial supply sources to contraceptive social marketing programs, the association would have had to reallocate its resources. Instead, the number of distributors in the community-based distribution program increased, while the amount of couple-years of protection from oral contraceptives decreased.

Adolescent↗

[Alternatives to pharmaceutical distribution and reimbursement].

In Spain pharmaceutical distribution is carried out mainly thorugh the 20,000 independent pharmacies located throughout the country. This situation contrasts with that in other countries where other health care providers play a major role in drug dispensation or where pharmacies form part of industrial conglomerates or commercial chains. We describe the pharmaceutical distribution chain in Spain wholesale and through the pharmacies and place particular emphasis on five aspects of relevance when considering alternatives: ownership of the pharmacy and norms of professional service, criteria for setting up a pharmacy, monopoly on dispensing, automatic ageement with the Spanish national health system and reimbursement system. Several alternatives found in comparable countries are described: mail order and on-line distribution, sale of over-the counter pharmaceutical products in establishments other than pharmacies, the estabilishment of pharmaceutical chains, dispensing by providers, the repercussions of electronic prescribing and the possibilities of the still-emerging Pharmacuetical Care. The characteristics of pharmacy reimbursement systems are also reviewed. We recommend modification of limitations on ownership of pharmacies, the establishment of optional agreements between pharmacies and the Spanish national health system and the authorization of alternative or complementary channels of distribution for some products. We propose a mixed model of reimbursement that would include: a) a ficed price for dispensing; b) almost total return of the cost of the product; c) reimbursement for services explicity defined by the financer, and d) the possibility of a selective fixed payment for certain situations depending on the agreed services or a guaranteed minimum income.

Pharmaceutical Preparations↗

Implementing an operating room pharmacy satellite.

Implementation of an operating room (OR) pharmacy satellite is described, and its impact on cost-effectiveness and efficiency of drug distribution is analyzed. The OR satellite provided pharmacy coverage for 30-35 patients per day in 10 centralized surgical suites, 2 obstetric suites, and 1 burn-unit suite in a 401-bed teaching hospital. Objectives of the satellite were to consolidate accountability for drug distribution and control, reduce controlled substance loss and waste, reduce inventory costs, and improve recording of patient charges. Stock on the OR supply cart was reduced, controlled substances were dispensed to anesthesiologists from the satellite, and a system of standardized anesthesiology exchange trays was developed. A new billing form served as both the charging document and replacement list. Reduction in the medication cart stock resulted in smaller discrepancies in patient charges. For the five most commonly used controlled substances, accounting discrepancies were reduced. Inventory turnover increased and inventory dollar value and cost per patient were reduced. The percent of nurses who believed that a pharmacist should work in the area increased from 31% before implementation of the satellite to 95% after. The pilot OR pharmacy satellite was a financial success. Efficiency and effectiveness in drug distribution and control were improved, and communication between pharmacists and other medical personnel working in the OR areas was enhanced.

Anesthesia↗

Primary nursing and pharmacy systems: are they compatible?

The effects of primary care nursing on the provision of pharmaceutical services are discussed. The major pharmacy-related problem caused by primary care nursing is the increased complexity of communications and drug distribution. Decentralized pharmaceutical services and pharmacy-coordinated drug administration programs can be used to overcome the problem. Primary care nursing's advantages are improved control over controlled substances, quicker access to accurate patient information, more complete patient-care plans and drug-charge records, and a more efficient discharge medication program. Understanding the intent of primary care nursing is fundamental to maximizing these benefits and avoiding problems with this type of nursing service.

Communication↗