PHARMACEUTICAL SERVICES AND INPATIENT DRUG COSTS IN BONE-MARROW TRANSPLANTATION

A survey of U.S. bone marrow transplantation (BMT) programs was conduc ted to determine the role of pharmaceutical services in those programs and the pharmacy department resources allocated to support them. Surv eys were sent to 92 U.S. BMT programs to solicit the following informa tion: characteristics of the institution and the BMT program, extent o f pharmacist involvement in the BMT program, and pharmacy resource all ocation to the program. Fifty-five responses were received (60% respon se rate). BMT pharmacists were employed by 53 of these institutions (a total of 66 pharma- cists). BMT pharmacists at 49 of the 53 instituti ons (92%) received their salary from the department of pharmacy. Commo n BMT pharmacist responsibilities included managing adverse effects (1 00% of respondents), adjusting medication doses (96%), providing drug information (94%), participating in BMT team rounds (87%), maintaining medication profiles (85%), and developing medication protocols (81%). Inpatient BMT-related drug costs (reported by 37 respondents) average d 12% of the pharmacy's annual inpatient drug budget. One or more phar macists were members of the BMT team at 46 of 53 institutions. BMT-rel ated drug costs accounted for 12% of the total inpatient drug budget a t the 37 institutions reporting cost data.