Use of an Innovative Pharmaceutical Class Scoring Tool for Prioritized Annual Formulary Review

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Pharmacy Practice
• Drug Management

Background:

• The Joint Commission mandates annual formulary review, but lacks specific procedural guidance.
• Comprehensive reviews of all drug classes may be inefficient for large health systems.
• A need exists for a more effective and efficient approach to formulary review.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a pharmaceutical class scoring tool for prioritizing annual formulary reviews.
• To create a system that identifies high-yield opportunities for formulary optimization.
• To enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of health system formulary management.

Main Methods:

• A scoring tool was developed by drug information pharmacists.
• The tool utilized external and internal data to score 91 pharmaceutical classes across safety, efficacy, cost, and utilization.
• The number of formulary changes was compared between highest- and lowest-scoring classes.

Main Results:

• The scoring tool evaluated 91 pharmaceutical classes and 962 medications.
• Review of the highest-scoring class (corticosteroids) resulted in two formulary changes.
• Review of the lowest-scoring class (pharmaceutical adjuvants) resulted in zero formulary changes.

Conclusions:

• The developed tool effectively prioritizes pharmaceutical classes for formulary review.
• It identifies classes with significant optimization potential and those without.
• This approach enhances the efficiency of annual formulary review processes.