Implementation of mobile decentralized pharmaceutical services in a community teaching hospital.

Administrative strategies that were used to justify mobile decentralized pharmaceutical services in a community teaching hospital are discussed. The report describes the problems prompting the pharmacy's review of its centralized unit dose drug distribution and i.v. admixture services, the evaluation of alternative solutions, the proposal submitted to hospital administrators, the implementation process, and an analysis of fiscal impact. A decentralized system using mobile medication carts was considered the best alternative because it integrated distributive and clinical functions and offered efficiencies in drug distribution; anticipated capital expenditure costs and personnel costs were also lower than the costs of alternatives. The conversion to the new system increased the pharmacy personnel budget by $174,455 annually, representing the addition of 13.8 full-time equivalent (FTE) pharmacists and elimination of 10.4 FTE technicians and interns. The increased personnel budget was offset in fiscal year (FY) 1982-83 by documented savings of $47,000 from pharmacists' clinical activities and by calculated savings of $132,400 in nursing time. Excluding capital expenditures of $19,800 for the medication carts, implementing mobile decentralized services saved the hospital $4945 in FY 1982-83. Mobile decentralized services is a cost-effective approach for providing integrated drug distribution and clinical pharmacy services.

Evaluation of mobile decentralized pharmaceutical services in a community teaching hospital.

Mobile decentralized pharmaceutical services were compared with the previous centralized unit dose drug distribution services in a community teaching hospital. Medication order turnaround time, pharmacist workload activities, number of drug information requests, dose-activity index, and quality of drug distribution and drug administration record keeping were compared under the two systems. The number of drug therapy problems identified and resolved by decentralized pharmacists also was determined. Medication order turnaround time decreased from a mean of 198 minutes to 64 minutes in the centralized and decentralized systems, respectively. The number of drug information requests increased from 0.0055 to 0.05 requests per patient day. The percentage of requests related to adverse drug reactions, drug interactions, therapeutics, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacology increased in the decentralized system. The dose-activity index was 63.5% and 56.9% for centralized and decentralized systems, respectively, with the mean number of doses handled per patient day at 14.4 and 10.7. Decentralized pharmacists spent substantially more time than centralized pharmacists performing educational, therapy-related, and dispensing activities and less time performing clerical and verification activities. Decentralized pharmacists detected a large number of drug therapy problems that probably would have gone undetected in the previous system. The decentralized system met 31 of the 32 quality assurance standards, compared with 20 standards met for the centralized system. The implementation of mobile decentralized services provided greater opportunities for use of the pharmacists' clinical skills and reduced the time allocated to traditional functions.

Effect of urinary acidifiers on formaldehyde concentration and efficacy with methenamine therapy.

Twenty-seven patients with indwelling urinary catheters and chronic bacteriuria were studied for methenamine efficacy. In a crossover fashion, each patient received methenamine mandelate granules 4 g/day alone, with ascorbic acid 4 g/day, and with ascorbic acid 4 g/day plus cranberry cocktail one 1/day. Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and E. coli were the common pathogens. Urinary acidifiers had no significant effect on mean urine pH, however, high urinary formaldehyde concentrations were associated with the use of ascorbic acid. Bacteriocidal formaldehyde levels were more frequently present in patients with acidic urine pH than those with alkaline pH. Although ascorbic acid increased formaldehyde levels, additional cranberry cocktail had no further effect. Despite higher formaldehyde levels, urine culture results were positive in most cases with or without urine acidification. Methenamine therapy may be of limited value in asymptomatic chronic bacteriuric patients with indwelling catheters.

Predictability of methenamine efficacy based on type of urinary pathogen and pH.

This study involved 27 geriatric patients with asymptomatic chronic bacteriuria; all had indwelling Foley catheters. The treatment regimens (daily oral dosage) were: methenamine mandelate (MM) granules, 4 gm; MM, 4 gm, plus ascorbic acid, 4 gm; and MM, 4 gm, plus ascorbic acid, 4 gm, plus cranberry cocktail, 1 liter--administered according to a cross-over design. Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and E. coli were the most common urinary organisms. Proteus organisms were more often found in alkaline than in acidic urines, but the type of pathogen had no influence on urinary pH. Urinary formaldehyde concentration [HCHO] was lower in patients with Proteus infection (17.7 micrograms/ml) than in those with Pseudomonas (21.9 micrograms/ml) or E. coli infection (21.8 micrograms/ml). However, for Proteus infection, [HCHO] was higher in patients receiving MM plus ascorbic acid than in those receiving MM alone. Addition of cranberry cocktail to ascorbic acid did not enhance urinary pH, [HCHO] or methenamine efficacy. Our data suggest that in Foley catheter patients with chronic asymptomatic bacteriuria secondary to Proteus, Pseudomonas or E. coli infection, the type of urinary pathogen or the urinary pH cannot be used to predict the efficacy of methenamine therapy either with or without urinary acidifying agents.