An analysis of 1986 drug procurement practices in hospitals within the United States

The purpose of this study was to statistically answer a set of predefined objectives concerning pharmaceutical procurement. The key indicators were assumed to be cost per patient day and turnover rate. Of the 5,911 surveys mailed, 709 surveys were returned for a 12% response rate. The following statements were based on attempts to answer the six predetermined objectives. Pharmaceutical purchasing is controlled by pharmacy departments to the extent that comparisons to pharmaceutical purchasing by materials management departments was not possible. Prime vendor purchasing is the procurement method of choice. Competitive bidding through a group process is so popular that a valid comparison to nongroup bidding could not be accomplished with the results of this survey. Certain variables of group purchasing such as group age, contract adherence, and volume commitment, do not appear to be correlated to purchasing outcomes in this study. When comparing government to private hospitals, the private sector seems to have an advantage in managing turnover rates. Cost per patient day results were less conclusive. As single and multiple hospital systems were compared for purchasing outcomes, the results were not totally conclusive. Although, multiple hospital systems had a significantly higher turnover rate. Finally, a comparison based on the use, or lack of use, of prime vendor arrangements demonstrated interesting results. The duration of contract did not significantly affect the purchasing outcomes. Other hospital variables such as size, type, ownership, and organization, demonstrated notable trends. The importance of examining hospitals based on case mix and mission seems to be most important. Also, the ability to relate purchasing outcomes with formulary management strategies needs further study before conclusive statements can be adopted.