Indicators to control drug costs in hospitals.

A set of monthly indicators that can be used to track hospital drug costs is described; use of the indicators is illustrated using data from one hospital pharmacy department. Weighted for the top 100 drug products' contribution to drug expenditures, the drug-cost inflation index identifies changes in the price of drug products, and the drug-cost index accounts for changes attributed to newly marketed drug products and changes in drug use. Pharmacologic-cost indicators represent the expenditure for drug products in specific pharmacologic classifications per patient day, and disease-drug cost indicators represent the expenditure per day for drugs used to treat patients with specific diseases. Other indicators are the drug cost per patient day, per outpatient clinic visit, and per outpatient prescription. Indicators of intravenous solution cost per patient day, contrast media cost per radiologic procedure, and radiopharmaceuticals cost per procedure are described. Hospital pharmacy directors can use the indicators to develop accurate drug budgets and to monitor changes in drug costs on a routine basis; the indicators also can provide useful information in monitoring drug costs for diagnosis-related groups.