Cost Savings Associated with a Dedicated Drug Information Service in an Academic Medical Center

Abstract

Objectives Document interventions made by a drug information center affiliated with a single academic medical center and calculate the cost avoidance associated with the identified interventions. Methods All drug information requests received by the drug information center from January 1, 2008 through December 31, 2008 were reviewed. Responses were put into an economic model for cost avoidance, and avoidance of research time was calculated for each profession. Results The drug information center documented 270 drug information requests during the study period. Pharmacists were the heaviest users of the drug information center, and the most common classification of drug information questions asked were therapeutic evaluations. There were 186 drug information responses that met the economic model definition for a patient-specific intervention, totaling an estimated cost avoidance of $130,200. In regard to research time savings, the drug information center invested a total of 554.4 research hours into question responses, associated with a total workload savings of $27,283 in research time avoided. Conclusion A beneficial effect of having a dedicated drug information center was demonstrated at an academic tertiary care teaching medical center. Cost avoidance calculations for all interventions and research time avoided totaled $157,483 for the 1-year study period.