Cost minimization analysis of outpatient parenteral/oral antibiotic therapy at a trauma hospital: Public health system.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) on a public hospital in a middle-income country.

Design: A retrospective, observational study analyzing the economic data retrieved on the dehospitalization of patients on antibiotic therapy.

Setting: Public university trauma hospital.

Public health investments and mortality risk in Brazilian peritoneal dialysis patients.

Background: End-stage kidney disease (ESKD) treatment is very costly and accounts for a significant percentage of public healthcare expenditures. Beyond direct costs, dialysis patients use other healthcare levels, but the impact of public investment on each of these levels is unclear. This study aimed to investigate the association between direct financing at different healthcare levels and overall mortality in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients.

Pharmacy program for improved handling of antineoplastic agents.

A pharmacy program to improve the handling of antineoplastic drug products in a pediatric hospital is described. To correct deficiencies in the preparation and administration of cancer chemotherapy, the pharmacy department in conjunction with pediatric hematology-oncology physicians prepared a cancer chemotherapy manual. Included in the manual were (1) policies and procedures for the ordering, preparation, delivery, administration, and disposal of chemotherapy; (2) a flow sheet to facilitate ordering of daily chemotherapy doses and allow pharmacists to double-check dosage calculations of physicians; (3) drug information monographs on various antineoplastic agents used in the hospital; and (4) a reference chart containing information about the reconstitution, dilution, stability, storage, administration, and special-handling precautions for chemotherapy.