Diffusion of innovation I: Formulary acceptance rates of new drugs in teaching and non-teaching British Columbia hospitals--a hospital pharmacy perspective.
Lag times in the diffusion of new drugs in the hospital setting have both patient care and pharmaceutical industry implications. This two-part series uses diffusion theory to examine differences in the adoption rates of new drugs in British Columbia teaching and non-teaching hospitals. Formulary addition of a new drug by a hospital's Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee was considered the adoption indicator. Time for adoption was defined as the difference between a drug's Canadian market approval date and the date of formulary addition. Surveys were mailed in September 1990 to 41 hospital pharmacies (response rate = 88%), asking respondents to provide formulary inclusion dates of 29 drugs marketed between July 1987 and March 1990. A significant difference (Mann-Whitney U Test, p < 0.0358) in median adoption time was observed between the six teaching and 25 non-teaching study hospitals, with the former adopting a new drug in 7.5 months versus the latter adopting a new drug in 12.1 months.
Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver.
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D'Sa
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Hill
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Stratton
D001955:British Columbia; D002170:Canada; D004059:Diffusion of Innovation; D017277:Drug Approval / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004345:Drug Industry; D005572:Formularies, Hospital as Topic / Q000592:standards*; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D010607:Pharmacy Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010606:Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee; D013997:Time Factors