Antibiotic therapeutic interchange program: six years of experience.
To assess the long-term impact of a therapeutic interchange program on the use of target antimicrobial drugs, we conducted a retrospective study of target drug utilization at our institution--a 1,000-bed Canadian tertiary care teaching hospital. Data were assessed to determine target drug utilization, incidence of therapeutic interchanges, and patient-target drug exposures. Results showed that the incidence of therapeutic interchanges per patient-target drug exposure decreased from a mean of 23% to 2%, resulting in a total net savings for the target drugs of approximately $1.07 million (Canadian) over 6 years. Prescriber acceptance and low manpower requirements combine to make this a useful method of altering prescribing patterns and reducing drug and drug delivery costs.
Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Centre, B.C.
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L
Frighetto
D
D
Nickoloff
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P
Jewesson
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001955:British Columbia; D017046:Cost Savings; D016527:Drug Costs; D017723:Drug Utilization Review / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006746:Hospital Bed Capacity, 500 and over; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D008510:Medication Systems, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D016730:Program Development; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013810:Therapeutic Equivalency