The benefits of a unit dose system in oral antibiotics dispensing: Azorean hospital pharmacists tackling the socioeconomic problem of leftovers in Portugal

Abstract

In Portugal, oral antibiotics are usually dispensed in a predefined package size at the local community pharmacy. This rigid system can create inefficiencies (e.g. leftovers), since prescription regimens are flexible and sometimes the package does not correspond exactly to the prescribed treatment. To provide a solution to this problem, the Hospital do Divino Espirito Santo de Ponta Delgada (HDES) opened a Public Sales Unit (PSU) with a unit dose dispensing system of pharmaceuticals for its patients. The aim of this study was to characterize and evaluate the unit dose system for oral antibiotics dispensing at the HDES-PSU, and to extrapolate the results at the Portuguese nationwide level. Oral antibiotics dispensing dynamics at the HDES-PSU were examined over a period of 1 year. Dispensed prescriptions were analyzed, and relevant information was collected and entered into a digital database for analysis. To extrapolate results at a nationwide level, a database from Statistics Portugal was used. The results revealed that the 663 registered interventions provided overall savings of 3939 pharmaceutical units, corresponding to €1032.99. The Portuguese nationwide extrapolation indicated that a total of 276,833 pharmaceutical interventions could be registered, corresponding to 1,544,317 pharmaceutical units saved and to €434,085.85 in monetary savings. The present study provides insights into how a unit dose dispensing system can contribute to solving the socioeconomic problems raised by leftovers of oral antibiotics dispensing practices occurring in healthcare systems such as the Portuguese one.