Pharmacoeconomical Evaluation of Clinical Pathway in Gastrectomy Patients

• Published in: Journal of Nippon Medical School Vol. 70; no. 1; pp. 53 - 56
• Main Authors: Ise, Yuya, Honjo, Kazuyoshi, So, Shizuka, Senoo, Makoto, Katayama, Shiro, Hirano, Masaaki, Mitsuhashi, Kyoko, Yoshiyuki, Toshiro, Kiyama, Teruo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Japanese
• Published: Japan The Medical Association of Nippon Medical School 2003
• Subjects: Aged; clinical pathway; Counseling; Critical Pathways - economics; Female; Gastrectomy; gastrectomy patients; Humans; Male; medication management and instruction tasks; Middle Aged; Pharmaceutical Services; phramacoeconomical efficacy; Postoperative Care - economics
• ISSN: 1345-4676; 1347-3409
• DOI: 10.1272/jnms.70.53

The aim of the present study was to ascertain the pharmacoeconomical efficacy of a clinical pathway (CP) employing medication management and instruction tasks (i. e. pharmaceutical care and counseling for inpatients) in gastrectomy patients. Pharmaceutical services of a uniform quality were provided. These included a CP check sheet, medication management, and a history of the drugs chiebly prescribed by pharmacists. As a result, the average number of hospitalized days among the patients who were offered pharmaceutical care compared with those who were not was significantly shortened from 35.4 days to 26.1 days (P<0.001). Moreover, the average cost of medication was also significantly reduced from 270,631 yen to 190,331 yen (P<0.05). These data provide the first evidence that a CP employing medication management and instruction tasks for gastrectomy patients may play a substantial role in saving on medical costs.