Using billing data to improve hospital drug use

All hospitals, both in the United States and abroad, have a critical need to ensure the appropriateness and safety of the drugs prescribed and administered to their patients. The sources of data to support this effort are typically patient charts or automated pharmacy information data bases. Patient charts allow the capture of all information relevant to the patient, but are laborious to review in detail. Pharmacy information systems provide much information on drugs prescribed, but lack information on laboratory values and patient diseases. A third source of data, namely billing data, is a byproduct of the automated order entry process in US hospitals, but is seldom used for research or quality management. By standardizing the individual charge codes used by the hospitals for billing for drugs, the billing data becomes more accessible, comparable to other institutions, and more valuable as a source of research, quality assurance and quality improvement.