Pharmacoeconomic analysis in formulary decisions: an international perspective.

The greatest health care challenge of the next decade is making the best use of limited available resources to attain the highest quality for the lowest cost. This will require the use of economic information in all health care decisions, but particularly those concerning drug formularies. Pharmacoeconomic data have become increasingly available and will be playing a major role in formulary decisions in many countries around the world. In preparation, P&T committees must consider how such information will be dealt with in the formulary decision-making process at the institutional and organizational levels.