HOSPITAL INFORMATION SYSTEM AS AN INSTRUMENT FOR DRUGS COST CONTROL.

BACKGROUND: In time of Global economic crisis it is necessary to estimate very precisely the cost for patient treatment so to avoid eventual losses for hospital. According to leading authors drug costs are evaluated between 10-40%. This imposes the necessity of using large range of economic and mathematical instruments for drugs cost control. OBJECTIVE: To assess the need of reducing drugs cost and on this base to propose computer model, adapted to HIS. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Data from Hospital Information System are used to calculate drugs expenditure in the most resource consuming unit in MMA - Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Department for 5 year period. Statistic methods were used for extracting trends and evaluation. Questionnaire survey was conducted among 50 physicians in MMA, aimed to determine the main problems in drugs prescription. RESULTS: At the beginning of the studied period drugs cost was about 80% of the patient treatment and in the last year after introduced manager control it was reduced to 57%. Among the main reasons for high cost according to the survey are the lack of knowledge and ignorance of drugs prices by physicians. Using the capacity of HIS as an instrument for drugs cost control results in cost reducing up to 30%. CONCLUSIONS: Hospital Information System can play an important role in the reducing drugs costs, and it can help managers to control the process of prescription [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]