How to tie a drug therapy improvement program to physician credentialing.

The pharmacy staff and the management information system specialist at St. James Hospital and Health Centers, a 472-bed community medical center located in Chicago Heights, Illinois, developed a computer program for documenting the drug use patterns of physicians. This program was not only helpful in improving the appropriate use of medications within the institution, it was also tied to the prescriber credentialing process. How the program evolved as well as the cost savings/cost avoidance achieved as a result of the drug therapy improvement process is presented.