title: Drug information service for drug product procurement in the Veterans Affairs health-care system: preliminary experience.
abstract: The preliminary experience of the drug information service of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) central office is described. The drug information service assists the drug and pharmaceutical product management section of the pharmacy service for the VA central office. The purpose of the drug information service is to promote efficacious drug therapy while meeting cost containment goals for pharmaceutical products. The pharmacist coordinator of this service has experience in both patient care and drug information service. The drug information service is involved in the following activities: (1) making recommendations for contract bidding on therapeutically equivalent products, (2) identifying prescription duplication within the system, (3) reporting product defects, (4) planning drug procurement in unique situations, such as during war, (5) developing gender-specific therapy, (6) evaluating the appropriateness of brand-name-only purchasing of certain products, (7) evaluating new drug products, (8) compiling national drug-use data, and (9) projecting drug price increases. The VA drug information service has diverse responsibilities meant to optimize drug therapy and reduce pharmacy costs in the VA health-care system.
authors.affiliation: Pharmacy Service, Veterans Affairs Central Office (VACO), Hines, IL 60521.
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Haynes
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Patterson
authors.forename: S U
authors.initials: SU
authors.lastname: Wade
mesh_terms: D003363:Cost Control; D016527:Drug Costs; D004346:Drug Information Services / Q000191:economics; D004358:Drug Therapy; D016568:Drugs, Generic / Q000191:economics; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D005569:Formularies as Topic; D006787:Hospitals, Veterans / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D011682:Purchasing, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration; D014481:United States; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs / Q000458:organization & administration*
chemical_list: D016568:Drugs, Generic