14th Annual Conference of the British HIV Association 23-25 April 2008, Belfast

IMPROVING HIGH COST ANTIRETROVIRAL DRUG DISPENSING: THE IMPACT OF A DEDICATED HIV PHARMACY TECHNICIAN

HIV Med 2008 Apr 23-25 (Suppl 1);14:13 (abstract no. P12)

I Stephenson, MJ Wiselka, D Pegg, A Aboo and TW Clarke
University Hospitals Leicester, Leicester, UK

BACKGROUND: Infectious Diseases supervises inpatient management and follow-up of all symptomatic HIV adults in Leicester. Repeat antiretroviral (ARV) scripts are written during consultation at outpatients, with a supply issued until the next appointment-typically 3/12. However, as pharmacy issues ARV drugs in calender pack months, and follow-up appts are variable (2-12 weeks), and often changed later due to cancellation, convenience or failure to attend, we note that patients may acquire 'excess' drug by attending outpatients earlier than anticipated, or from 'emergency' scripts issued if running out of drug before their next appointment. The cumulative effect of excess prescribing may be considerable.

METHODS: We introduced a specialist HIV pharmacy technician to separate prescription/collection of ARV from clinics, establish a dispensing database and prevent dispensing of excess drug. We calculated the daily dose of ARV prescribed per patient per month before and after the technician appointment, and the total cost of 'excess' drugs returned at clinic.

RESULTS:≤Ninety six thousand of dispensed but unneeded ARV were returned to pharmacy in the first 5 months after technician appt. Before the technician, every patient on NNRTI was, on average, dispensed 100.1 days of drug over a 90 day period. This was reduced to 91.8 days after the technician appt. This is associated with cost saving/avoidance of ≤72,000 for first line (NNRTI and NRTI) agents alone.

CONCLUSION:An HIV specialist pharmacy technician has resulted in substantial cost avoidance in ARV expenditure.

2008-04-23
P12

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