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Patient's Own Drugs and One‐Stop Dispensing: Improving Continuity of Care and Reducing Drug Expenditure
Author(s) -
James C Robert,
Leong Cherrie KY,
Martin Robyn C,
Plumridge Richard J
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of pharmacy practice and research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.222
H-Index - 22
eISSN - 2055-2335
pISSN - 1445-937X
DOI - 10.1002/j.2055-2335.2008.tb00795.x
Subject(s) - medicine , pharmacy , pharmaceutical care , drug , patient care , intensive care medicine , medical emergency , patient safety , hospital pharmacy , emergency medicine , health care , pharmacology , nursing , economics , economic growth
Background The use of patient's own drugs and one‐stop dispensing can reduce the risk of medication misadventure by refocusing pharmacy services from distributive functions to improving patient clinical review from admission to discharge. Changing practice to adopt these programs will contribute towards greater compliance with accepted standards of practice for appropriate, safe and effective use of medicines. Aim To estimate the cost savings associated with patient's own drugs and one‐stop dispensing using the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. Method Patient's own drugs use and hospital‐initiated drugs were recorded on 4 wards over a 26 day period and the costs determined. Results Use of patient's own drugs on the 4 wards resulted in estimated annual savings of 9.92% (percentage of total hospital drug expenditure). Conclusion Patient's own drugs and one‐stop dispensing can improve the continuity of care, quality use of medicines, and result in significant cost savings.