Why have a Formulary and what is a formulary pharmacist
Firstly, no hospital pharmacy can possibly stock every medication that exists (even if the affiliated doctors want to prescribe for their hospitalized patients)
Therefore, the hospital medical and pharmacy staff compose a hospital formulary, which is a list of the medications that the hospital pharmacy stocks, along with information about each medication.
The committee that compiles the hospital formulary meets regularly to make changes as necessary.
The pharmacy formulary team are responsible for compiling, maintaining and updating its formulary
Formularies serve to:
- decrease costs for the entire institution
- improve therapeutics and limit adverse incidents or treatment failure
- educate physicians and other health care professionals
- reduce liability of the medical staff, hospital, and employees
- control misuse and waste of drug products.
Formulary teams’ approach to dealing (hoping approving) with new formulary requests
- Proposal submitted
- Production of evaluated drug summary
- Find the evidence
- Evaluate information (patient no’s, cost, impact)
- Write report
- Decision made by formulary board
- Implementation of decision
- Dissemination into practice
Role of a Hospital Formulary Pharmacist
• To maintain and progress high quality, evidence-based prescribing
• An evidence-based medicine catalog, to ensure the patients we care receive the best care possible.
• Reduce variation in the level of treatment provided to patients
• Ensure efficacious, safe and cost-effective medicine is provided
• Restriction of medicines that are overly expensive or ineffective
• Set standards of good practice
• Controlling drug expenditure and improving accountability through regular audit.
• To inform and support the healthcare decision making process
• Production of clear guidance and algorithms from the mass of raw evidence to streamline the prescribing decision.
Have you had experience in the formulary team or are interested in the role leave a comment below
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