One hospital's success with medication budget control.

In the era of major restraint of health care spending in Ontario, the Ottawa General Hospital, a 530-bed adult tertiary care facility, initiated a series of programs aimed at reducing their drug costs by $500,000 over 18 months; the goal was achieved in 12 months. This success is attributed to the collaboration of key medical staff, the pharmacy department and senior administration. Overall, quality of care was unaffected and was perhaps improved.