THE STROKE THERAPY RESEARCH BOOM - IMPLICATIONS FOR THE HOSPITAL FORMULARY

Research into drug therapy for the acute treatment of ischemic stroke is now booming, and a number of promising drugs with very different me chanisms of action are at an advanced stage of development. Ideally, u se of single agents or combinations of agents will result in favorable neurologic and functional outcomes for the majority of stroke patient s. Given the current focus within our society on controlling health ca re costs, pharmacoeconomic tools will be important in determining whic h of these agents should achieve formulary acceptance. Cost-minimizati on analysis, cost-benefit analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis, and c ost-utility analysis are all likely to be valuable methodologies to ai d in decision making. More complex situations may require the use of d ecision-tree analysis.