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Biomedical subjects

C Louie

Publications and source records attributed to C Louie.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

Acquiring capital equipment through shared-risk agreements.

The Medical Center at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) developed a shared-risk relationship with a vendor to manage the costs of infusion therapy. The relationship was centered on upgrading UCSF's aging stock of infusion pumps. Over the course of the 60-month agreement, the vendor agreed to provide the medical center with 750 new infusion pumps, upgrades on related software, a full warranty, full maintenance on the pumps, and assistance with ensuring appropriate utilization. Additional pumps were to be available if required to meet demand. In exchange, UCSF agreed to pay the vendor a fixed rate based on the number of admissions. If the number of pumps required exceeded 775 or fell below 730, the fixed rate could be reassessed. As a result of the agreement, UCSF has needed fewer infusion pumps and infusion sets. A slight increase in operating expenses has been more than offset by avoidance of the 7 to 10 percent interest the medical center would have had to pay if it had borrowed funds to purchase new pumps.

Commerce↗
PubMed1996

Drug-related illness in emergency department patients.

Drug-related illnesses (DRIs) associated with visits to a hospital emergency department (ED) were identified and classified, and the cost of these DRIs was analyzed. A pharmacist reviewed all available ED log forms on file at a 560-bed teaching hospital for October 1994. The following information was collected from these forms and, for patients with documented or suspected DRI, the medical record: medication and allergy history, drug involved in and cause of DRI, diagnosis, patient compliance, serum drug concentrations, and length of hospital stay. A patients was identified as having had a DRI if he or she was taking a drug before the ED visit and if a DRI was documented on the ED log form or suspected by the pharmacist. DRIs were classified as having been caused by inappropriate prescribing, patient noncompliance, an adverse drug reaction (ADR), or a drug interaction. DRIs were considered preventable if they could have been avoided through appropriate prescribing, outpatient monitoring, or compliance. A cost analysis was performed. Of 1260 ED log forms reviewed, 565 (45%) described patients receiving drugs before the ED visit. A total of 50 DRIs were discernible in 49 log forms (3.9% of all 1260 forms, and 8.6% of the 565 forms describing patients taking medication before the visit). Noncompliance, inappropriate prescribing, and ADRs accounted for 58%, 32%, and 10% of the DRIs, respectively. The drugs most frequently involved were albuterol, insulin, and warfarin. Thirty-three (66%) of the DRIs were considered to have been preventable; these DRIs accounted for an estimated $391,342 in annual ED and hospital costs. Many DRIs seen in the ED patients were preventable, and these preventable illnesses contributed substantially to ED and hospital costs.

Costs and Cost Analysis↗
PubMed1983

Experiences in utilizing the quality circle concept.

This article describes an experience with using the quality circle concept in a hospital pharmacy environment. The initial experience was positive in that the staff defined productivity standards for themselves. The staff used their productivity standards to evaluate the perceived problem of understaffing in the department.

California↗