Survey of hospitals for guidelines, policies, and protocols for anticoagulants.

PURPOSE: A survey of community hospitals that are part of a national group purchasing organization (GPO) was conducted to assess the formulary status of currently available anticoagulants, assess the current status of anticoagulant prescribing guidelines and the existing scope of such guidelines, and identify perceptions about the appropriateness of the use of anticoagulants in community hospitals in the United States. METHODS: A Web-based survey of acute care hospitals that were members of a leading health care resource management and GPO was conducted. The survey was sent to 224 hospitals. RESULTS: Of 224 hospitals, 127 participated in the survey, a response rate of 59.6%. Warfarin, unfractionated heparin (UFH), and enoxaparin were the anticoagulants most commonly included (>80%) on the hospitals' drug formularies. Guidelines relating to the use of UFH and low-molecular-weight heparins (LMWHs) existed in approximately 87.4% and 55.1% of responding hospitals, respectively, followed by warfarin and direct thrombin inhibitors (DTIs) (approximately 44.1% and 30.7%, respectively). Among hospitals without guidelines, 78.2%, 72.1%, 65.4%, 50.0%, and 41.4% reported that such guidelines would be useful if they included LMWHs, warfarin, DTIs, UFH, and fondaparinux, respectively. Guidelines for prophylaxis of venous thromboembolism (VTE), appropriate drug selection, and dosing for VTE prophylaxis and treatment existed in 59.8%, 53.5%, and 43.3% of the hospitals, respectively. CONCLUSION: The study found that a sizable percentage of the responding community hospitals did not have guidelines, protocols, or policies related to the use of anticoagulants. Further, those hospitals without such guidelines commonly reported a need for clinical practice guidelines.

Association between hospital size and pharmacy department productivity.

PURPOSE: The purposes of this study were to characterize and quantify workload and productivity in hospitals according to their size, to establish comparative statistics useful for pharmacy administrators as a means to contrast their efficiency to that of other hospitals of similar sizes, and to provide data to enable policymakers to better assess staffing and resource needs. METHODS: A 50-item Web-based survey designed to illicit information about pharmacy department staffing, workload, and productivity was sent electronically to 242 members of Consorta, Inc., a group-purchasing organization. Responses were received from 110 organizations, a response rate of 45.5%. The responses were categorized into three groups according to the number of staffed beds and were profiled and compared using descriptive and inferential statistics. RESULTS: Pharmacy department workload and expenditures were primarily a function of hospital size: Hospital volume statistics, pharmacy expenditures, hours of operation, pharmacy full-time equivalents (FTEs), and dispensing workload all are highly dependent on the size of the facility. The range of clinical services provided by small, medium, and large hospitals did not differ with the exception of a few services provided more often in larger hospitals. Overall productivity ratios demonstrated greater efficiency among larger hospitals. In terms of costs, pharmacy and hospital expenditures per occupied bed and per admission generally decreased as hospital size increased. CONCLUSION: Results of a survey suggested consistency in clinical services provided by hospitals of varying size and increased productivity with increasing hospital size. Respondents employed fewer FTEs than those in other national surveys.

Hospital policies for treatment of acute decompensated heart failure.

BACKGROUND: It is unclear to what extent hospitals use guidelines or protocols in treating acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) and whether nesiritide is included in these guidelines or protocols. OBJECTIVE: To assess the formulary status of currently used drugs, therapeutic guidelines, and perceptions about the appropriateness of treatment of ADHF in community hospitals. METHODS: A Web-based survey of pharmacy directors at community hospitals that were part of a national group purchasing organization was conducted. RESULTS: One hundred seven hospitals participated in the survey (response rate 47.1%). Diuretics such as furosemide and bumetanide were more commonly included (100% and 94.4%, respectively) on hospital formularies than was torsemide (69.2%). Dopamine and dobutamine were more common (94.4% each) on the formulary than was milrinone (68.2%). Nitroprusside and nitroglycerin were listed on the formularies of more than 90% of participating institutions, while nesiritide was listed on the formularies in only 48.6% of hospitals and was placed on restricted status in 36.4% of hospitals. Guidelines for care of patients with ADHF were used in the emergency department (ED), inpatient care units, and outpatient clinics in 18.6%, 43.0%, and 8.5% of hospitals, respectively. Overall, ADHF care, including general treatment as well as specific use of nesiritide, was deemed appropriate in the majority of patients, but nearly twice as many respondents perceived the management of ADHF and specific use of nesiritide as inappropriate in the ED compared with inpatient treatment. Only 41.1% of the respondents reported following Braunwald recommendations for the use of nesiritide. CONCLUSIONS: A sizable percentage of responding community hospitals do not have guidelines for treatment of ADHF despite the existence of such guidelines in the literature. There are opportunities for improvement in the general treatment of ADHF as well as for the use of nesiritide in ADHF, especially in the ED or observation unit versus inpatient units.

Monitoring of pharmacy staffing, workload, and productivity in community hospitals.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this survey was to identify and characterize pharmacy productivity monitoring systems used in community hospitals that were part of a national group purchasing organization (GPO). METHODS: A 50-item questionnaire was developed, pretested, and sent electronically to the directors of pharmacy at 242 member hospitals of Consorta, Inc., a national GPO. The questionnaire was designed to elicit information on (1) hospital pharmacy demographics, (2) systems used to measure hospital pharmacy productivity, and (3) staffing levels and workload. Hospital demographic data were also obtained for respondent and nonrespondent hospitals from the American Hospital Association's AHA Guide. Descriptive statistics, Student's t tests, and chi-square tests were used to characterize the data and compare respondents with nonrespondents. RESULTS: Responses were received from 110 hospitals (45.5%). No clinically significant differences were found when respondent and nonrespondent hospitals were compared based on AHA Guide data. The productivity workload ratios monitored most often by respondent hospitals were full-time equivalents (FTEs) per adjusted patient day, FTEs per dose dispensed, and FTEs per dose billed. Respondents reported a mean +/- S.D. of 21.90 +/- 18.83 actual FTEs and total doses dispensed, billed, or administered per year of 111,391.4 +/- 111,538.0. A major limitation of the productivity systems used in the hospitals was the inability of the systems to account for clinical services performed by the pharmacy staff. CONCLUSION: A survey of community hospitals indicated that although most engaged in productivity monitoring, systems for such measurement often failed to capture all relevant clinical workload data.