Overview of the hospital formulary systems in Hong Kong. Princess Margaret Hospital as a baseline.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the popularity of formulary systems in all Hong Kong hospitals and to compare these with the newly introduced formulary system in a major government hospital, the Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH), as the baseline.


METHODS
Questionnaire and selected interviews by pharmacy students.


METHODS
All hospital pharmacies in Hong Kong.


METHODS
Department managers (directors of pharmacy services) of hospital pharmacies.


METHODS
The popularity of the hospitals' formulary systems and their formulary decision-making strategies. Calculations of cost savings of the new formulary system in PMH and a comparison of the PMH system with the US standards were also made.


RESULTS
Among 38 responding hospitals, 35 (92%) had a formulary handbook and 21 (55.3%) claimed to have a formulary system. The evaluation processes and formulary decision-making procedures were found to be inadequate because basic components in drug evaluation (e.g., standardized criteria for drug evaluation) were not used regularly. However, the formulary system in PMH was found to be comparable with the US standards. Substantial cost savings were made through rejection of less cost-effective drugs by the Formulary Subcommittee in PMH.


CONCLUSIONS
In general, comprehensive formulary systems are still not popular in Hong Kong. This may be due to insufficient staffing and lack of administrative and physicians' support. The new formulary system in PMH can be used as a model to develop a successful formulary system in which hospital pharmacists can prove their expertise for the benefit of both hospitals and patients in Hong Kong.
Chang
S
S
Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong. schang@cuhk.edu.hk
Wong
J W
JW
Wong
C W
CW
Chiu
H C
HC
Raymond
K
K
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D005572:Formularies, Hospital as Topic; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D010607:Pharmacy Service, Hospital / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires