ABSTRACT
<b>Objective: </b>As part of the revision on remuneration for medical services in 2012, a new system has been implemented to allow an additional fee for inpatient pharmaceutical services to be added to the basic hospitalization fee.<br><b>Methods: </b>We at Kitasato University Kitasato Institute Hospital satisfied all institutional requirements for the new system and were preparing to introduce it from April 2012; however, there was concern about the increased workload due to the additional work of preparing diaries for pharmaceutical services used in calculating the additional fee.<br><b>Results: </b>We therefore developed a database titled Diary System for Inpatient Pharmaceutical Services for the preparation and management of diaries. This system allows pharmacists from various divisions to enter data simultaneously and realizes the unified management of records of services performed at various places in the pharmacy.<br><b>Conclusions: </b>Since entered data are automatically reflected in the inpatient pharmaceutical service diary and the monthly summary, an advantage compared to paper diaries in terms of efficiency may be expected. Furthermore, the monthly summary of the number of service hours by ward and service type may also be used for service analysis.
ABSTRACT
<b>Objective</b>: At Kitasato Institute Hospital, Kitasato University (henceforth, the hospital), the first edition of an antimicrobial use guidebook (henceforth, the guidebook) was produced in 2000. This time, the Pharmaceutical Department’s members on the hospital’s Infection Control Committee (ICC) took the lead and revised the guidebook so that it better conforms to clinical conditions and assessed the guidebook they created.<br><b>Methods</b>: A Working Group (WG) consisting of two ICC Pharmaceutical Department members and two members of the Medical Products Information Office staff examined the items to be listed in the guidebook. These items were approved by the ICC and then assigned to physicians and pharmacists to be written up. A questionnaire survey was conducted on the physicians and pharmacists in the hospital as to their assessment of the content and the conditions of use of the guidebook created.<br><b>Results</b>: In the revised edition, “Antimicrobials PK/PD,” “TDM,” “Empiric Therapy for Infections in Each Department,” etc. have been added, the physicians wrote “Empiric Therapy for Infections in Each Department” and everything else was written by the WG. The return rate of the questionnaire was 65.7% (<i>N</i>=99), and the guidebook utilization rate was 75.4%. Frequently viewed items were “List of Antimicrobials Used In-Hospital,” “How to Administer Medication during Decreased Renal Function,” “Empiric Therapy for Infections in Each Department,” etc. by the internal medicine physicians, “List of Antimicrobials Used In-Hospital” and “How to Administer Medication during Decreased Renal Function,” etc. by the surgeons, and “Classification of Antimicrobials,” “List of Antimicrobials Used In-Hospital,” “When Renal Function is Decreased,” “TDM,” and “Empiric Therapy for Infections in Each Department,” etc. by the residents. Furthermore, there were no items deemed “not necessary for inclusion” for a clear reason. As to be expected in this guidebook, 72.3% of all respondents mentioned it was “a source of information on basic antimicrobial use” and next, “a source of information for treating infections outside one’s area of specialty.”<br><b>Conclusion</b>: The items listed in the guidebook are thought to be appropriate, and its usage conditions are also good. As they are specialists on antimicrobials, the pharmacists playing a central role while cooperating with the physicians on the ICC led to the creation of a highly useful guidebook.