Hospital Drug Formularies and Use of Hospital Services

Many hospitals have introduced formularies to reduce hospital pharmacy expense, among other reasons. This study provides empirical evidence on the influence of hospital formulary restrictions on pharmacy charges, all other hospital charges, and on length of stay, using a survey of hospital drug poli...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Medical care 1993-10, Vol.31 (10), p.851-867
Main Authors: Sloan, Frank A., Gordon, Gilad S., Cocks, Douglas L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Asthma
Coronary artery disease
Diagnosis-Related Groups - economics
Drug substitution
Drug Utilization Review - economics
Efficiency, Organizational - economics
Female
Formularies, Hospital as Topic
Gastrointestinal diseases
Hospital Charges
Hospital costs
Humans
Infections
Length of stay
Length of Stay - economics
Male
Middle Aged
Nonprofit hospitals
Organizational Policy
Pharmacies
Pharmacy Service, Hospital - economics
Pharmacy Service, Hospital - statistics & numerical data
Teaching hospitals
Washington
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Summary:Many hospitals have introduced formularies to reduce hospital pharmacy expense, among other reasons. This study provides empirical evidence on the influence of hospital formulary restrictions on pharmacy charges, all other hospital charges, and on length of stay, using a survey of hospital drug policies and hospital discharge data from Washington State in 1989. Limiting the number of drugs in particular therapeutic categories reduced total charges incurred for gastrointestinal disease and asthma patients, increased total charges for cardiovascular disease patients, and had no effect on charges for infectious diseases patients. Restricting availability of drugs reduced pharmacy charges, but these savings tended to be offset by increases in other charges. Combining the categories, we found that restricting availability of drugs did not affect charges. We conclude that across-the-board restrictions do not result in cost savings, although savings may be realized for particular drug categories.
ISSN:0025-7079
1537-1948
DOI:10.1097/00005650-199310000-00001