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Drug expenditure in hospitals: what do German ward physicians know?
J U Schnurrer1, D O Stichtenoth, R Troost
1Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Strasse 1, D-30623 Hannover, Germany.
Aims:
Ward physicians hold key positions in the course of efforts to reduce drug expenditures in hospitals. This study evaluated the knowledge of German hospital physicians with respect to the daily therapeutic costs of 21 frequently used drugs.
Methods:
A questionnaire survey was carried out among 168 ward physicians from university and municipal hospital departments of internal medicine.
Results:
One hundred and twenty-seven physicians returned a completed questionnaire, a response rate of 75.6%. On average the physicians successfully identified both low cost and expensive drugs. The prices of inexpensive and moderately expensive drugs were generally overestimated whereas those for the expensive and highly expensive drugs were underestimated in 35% and 68% of respondents, respectively.
Conclusions:
The results of this survey of German hospital physicians suggest that a more economically efficient use of drugs could be achieved by an improved knowledge of daily therapeutic costs.