Activities, functions, and structure of pharmacy and therapeutics committees in large teaching hospitals

The results of a survey on the activities and functions of hospital-based p harmacy and therapeutics (P&T) committees are presented. Questionnaires were mailed to the pharmacy director or the person responsib le for the pharmacy's drug information service at 267 teaching hospitals th roughout the United Slates in 1994 and 1995. The survey questions covered P &T committee composition, functions, roles of members, policies and procedu res, and formulary-maintenance activities. The overall response rate was 70%. The mean number of members on the P&T co mmittees was 19.3, of whom 91% were allowed to vote. There was an average o f 12.3 physicians on the committees. Each P&T committee had at least one ph armacist member, with an average of 3.2 pharmacist members; 69.5% of the in stitutions reported having a committee secretary, who was almost always a p harmacist. On almost all committees, pharmacists wrote the minutes, prepare d the formulary review documents, and were responsible for monitoring formu lary activities outside the meeting. The P&T committees functioned in a ver y formal manner. Most (87.7%) of the respondents reported that their instit utions had a closed formulary. At all hospitals, the attending medical staf f could request additions to the formulary, but at only 62.4% of the hospit als could pharmacy staff make a similar request. The committees were active in changing the formulary. P&T committees in large teaching hospitals are active in formulary manageme nt, are large and diverse, and consist mainly of physicians, although pharm acists play an important role in the meetings.