Technique for calculation of the true costs of antibiotic therapy

An in-house method for costing antibiotic therapy is presented which quantifies hidden costs including costs arising from intravenous administration, labour, serum antibiotic assay, monitoring of haematological and biochemical indices and disposal of sharp instruments. A study of various hospital pr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases 1992-09, Vol.11 (9), p.823-827
Main Authors: KERR, J. R, BARR, J. G, SMYTH, E. T. M, O'HARE, J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anti-Bacterial Agents - economics
Anti-Bacterial Agents - therapeutic use
Antibiotics. Antiinfectious agents. Antiparasitic agents
Biological and medical sciences
Drug Costs
General aspects
Humans
Medical sciences
Pharmacology. Drug treatments
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Summary:An in-house method for costing antibiotic therapy is presented which quantifies hidden costs including costs arising from intravenous administration, labour, serum antibiotic assay, monitoring of haematological and biochemical indices and disposal of sharp instruments. A study of various hospital procedures relating directly to antibiotic therapy was undertaken in an acute medical ward, which involved determination of staff members performing various procedures, consumables used and time taken. Results of this study facilitated accurate quantification of hidden costs of i.v. antibiotic therapy in this ward. Using these results, the cost of five-day courses of gentamicin, cefuroxime, penicillin G, flucloxacillin and erythromycin were calculated. The costing of adverse effects was not attempted. It is recommended that a costing technique of this sort is used in cost-benefit analysis of antibiotic use, as the cost of the drug alone is misleading.
ISSN:0934-9723
1435-4373
DOI:10.1007/BF01960882