A majority of healthcare C-suite leaders are experiencing increased inpatient pharmacy spending at their hospitals due to high drug costs, according to a new survey from Premier.
To better understand the implications of high drug costs on hospitals' finances and care delivery practices, Premier polled 47 healthcare C-suite leaders between April and May of this year.
Here are four survey findings.
- Sixty-four percent of respondents said their hospitals' inpatient drug spending has increased "significantly," and 32 percent said drug spending "somewhat" increased in the last five years.
- A majority of respondents (95 percent) cited rising drug prices as the main cause for increased inpatient drug spending, followed by increased use of specialty medications (91 percent) and increased patient acuity (64 percent).
- The three most common strategies leaders used to manage increased pharmacy spend were boosting use of generic drugs (89 percent), tightening up the hospital's drug formulary (82 percent) and asking pharmacists to identify expensive drug use patterns and suggest alternative treatments (75 percent).
- Forty-nine percent of respondents believe drug expenses will increase by a minimum of 10 percent over the next five years, and 16 percent of leaders said drug expenses would jump by 30 percent or more in the same time period.
To view the full report, click here.
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