The quality of Dutch hospital drug formularies:Evaluation of technical features and organisational information

Introduction: Hospital drug formularies (HDFs) are widely used tools to help influence clinicians' prescribing behaviour. Besides the therapeutic quality of HDFs, the available information and the way in which this is presented are key factors in HDFs' success or failure to influence prescribing behaviour and enhance prescribing quality. This research evaluates the technical features and organisational information of Dutch HDFs. Methods: Seventy-two (75%) of all Dutch HDFs were evaluated based on criteria retrieved from international literature and additional criteria drafted by occupational groups working with HDFs. Aspects that were studied were physical appearance and layout, practicability with respect to the available information and how easily this could be retrieved from the HDFs, information regarding drug choice policies such as seamless care, and the available type of therapeutic and pharmaceutical information. Results: Thirty-three (46%) of the HDFs were less than 3 years old. Physical appearance of all HDFs was very well looked after. Two (3%) HDFs were disease-oriented rather than drug-oriented. Changes from pre-admission therapy were addressed in 30 (42%) of the HDFs, but other seamless care policies were addressed in less than 20% of the HDFs. Finally, less than 50% provided therapeutic information that clinicians indicated as important. Discussion: Although Dutch HDFs are technically practicable with respect to user-convenience, practice-oriented features are capable of improvements. Furthermore, Dutch HDFs lack important clinical information for daily practice. To enhance seamless care across healthcare, generic prescribing and prescribing on admission from and discharge to any other sectors should be addressed more specifically

The quality of Dutch hospital drug formularies: Evaluation of technical features and organisational information

Introduction: Hospital drug formularies (HDFs) are widely used tools to help influence clinicians' prescribing behaviour. Besides the therapeutic quality of HDFs, the available information and the way in which this is presented are key factors in HDFs' success or failure to influence prescribing behaviour and enhance prescribing quality. This research evaluates the technical features and organisational information of Dutch HDFs. Methods: Seventy-two (75%) of all Dutch HDFs were evaluated based on criteria retrieved from international literature and additional criteria drafted by occupational groups working with HDFs. Aspects that were studied were physical appearance and layout, practicability with respect to the available information and how easily this could be retrieved from the HDFs, information regarding drug choice policies such as seamless care, and the available type of therapeutic and pharmaceutical information. Results: Thirty-three (46%) of the HDFs were less than 3 years old. Physical appearance of all HDFs was very well looked after. Two (3%) HDFs were disease-oriented rather than drug-oriented. Changes from pre-admission therapy were addressed in 30 (42%) of the HDFs, but other seamless care policies were addressed in less than 20% of the HDFs. Finally, less than 50% provided therapeutic information that clinicians indicated as important. Discussion: Although Dutch HDFs are technically practicable with respect to user-convenience, practice-oriented features are capable of improvements. Furthermore, Dutch HDFs lack important clinical information for daily practice. To enhance seamless care across healthcare, generic prescribing and prescribing on admission from and discharge to any other sectors should be addressed more specifically

FIP/AAPS Joint Workshop Report: Dissolution/In Vitro Release Testing of Novel/Special Dosage Forms

In 2003, the FIP Dissolution Working group published a position paper on dissolution/drug release testing for special/novel dosage forms that represented the scientific opinions of many experts in the field at that time (1). The position paper has supported activities, programs, and decisions in the scientific, technical, and regulatory community. Due to the rapid evolution of new practices and techniques for in vitro testing, the FIP Special Interest Group (SIG) on Dissolution/Drug Release decided to revise the previous paper and added proposals for further harmonization of in vitro release testing practices for different pharmaceutical dosage forms. This article represents the current updates to the previously published paper. This revision has been aligned to coincide with the USP taxonomy including route of administration, intended site of drug release, and dosage form. The revised paper includes information from current literature, expert discussions, and presentations from recent workshops (2,3). The authors acknowledge and expect further updates to be made as additional progress is made in the relevant areas. Thus, comments and additional contributions are welcome and may be considered for the next revision of the position paper