Developing a quick reference formulary.
The establishment of the Department of Defense Basic Core Formulary was an attempt by the Department of Defense to equilibrate its pharmacy benefit among military treatment facilities. Department of Defense military treatment facilities are required to make available to beneficiaries items on the Basic Core Formulary. Military treatment facilities may augment the Basic Core Formulary through local pharmacy and therapeutic committee actions that result in different formularies among military treatment facilities. Formulary differences among military treatment facilities also arise because the Coast Guard, which is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Transportation in peacetime, is not required to adhere to the Basic Core Formulary at present. Because of formulary differences, most military treatment facilities make available abbreviated, quick reference versions of their formularies to patients. This article describes the development of a quick reference formulary at a Coast Guard military treatment facility pharmacy.