J. A. Ponto
1998
Citations
0
Influential Citations
0
Citations
Quality indicators
Journal
Journal of the American Pharmaceutical Association
Abstract
Objective: To apply the process of drug use evaluation (DUE) for an expensive radiopharmaceutical, Tc-99m mertiatide, following the development of drug use guidelines in order to evaluate use patterns, determine compliance rates with the guidelines, and estimate associated cost savings. Setting: Nuclear medicine department in a university hospital. Practice Description: Nuclear pharmacy. Main Outcome Measures: Drug use patterns, rates of compliance with preestablished drug use guidelines, cost savings. Resuhs: Overall compliance with guideline recommendations was approximately 90%. Cost savings, without negatively affecting procedure quality, were estimated to be approximately $4,700 to $7,600 per year. Conclusion: DUE procedures can be applied to expensive radiopharmaceuticals for which established review criteria are available.