Hospital pharmacy
-
As spending on medications in the United States increases with each passing year, the need for drug pricing transparency by manufacturers also increases. Drug spending, excluding rebates and discounts, was $309.5 billion in 2015, up 8.5% from 2014. Drug pricing transparency has been a topic of debate across the health care system. ⋯ We will discuss factors that influence drug pricing, policies and ways to reduce the rising costs of drugs, and the role of pharmacy leaders in managing this problem. A multitude of factors are driving the country to spend more and more on medications; pharmacy leaders can employ various strategies to counteract this escalation of drug prices. After reviewing this article, the pharmacy director will have an increased ability to address drug pricing issues with stakeholders as they develop patient-centered pharmacy services.
-
Purpose: Multimodal analgesia is common practice in the postoperative setting, but the utility of adjunctive analgesia in the emergency department (ED) is less understood. The primary objective of this study was to analyze ED prescriber ordering habits for adjunct nonopioid pain medication for opioid-naïve patients who require intravenous (IV) morphine or hydromorphone for acute pain. Secondary objectives were to assess initial and total opioid consumption in morphine equivalent units (MEU), pain scores, and ED length of stay (LOS) between groups. ⋯ Patients who received adjunct analgesics were associated with a decreased ED LOS (294 vs 342 minutes, p = .04). Conclusion: A small proportion of patients with acute pain received a nonopioid analgesic in conjunction to IV opioids. Further studies are warranted to assess the impact of adjunct analgesics for patients with acute pain.