Tyler Brisso, a pharmacy student and an employee at a Methodist Health System location, designed a drug compounding solution that has the potential to save the Omaha, Neb.-based system nearly $100,000 each year, NBC affiliate WOWT reported Feb. 8.
Mr. Brisso, a fourth-year student at Omaha, Neb.-based Creighton University School of Pharmacy and Health Professions, found a recipe to compound the dosage of two rectal suppositories into one. It's a solution to compound indomethacin — a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug — into the needed dosage strength to treat pancreatitis after a specific endoscopic procedure, according to WOWT.
The idea is worth up to $100,000 in savings, and Melanie Ryan, PharmD, the pharmacy director at Methodist Jennie Edmundson Hospital in Council Bluffs, Iowa, has shared Mr. Brisso's 10-step project with other Midwest systems.
"Drugs are super expensive. They're not getting less expensive, so we have to come up with innovative ways to find savings when we can," Dr. Ryan told WOWT. "We are willing to share innovative ideas because we're all in the same boat. We're all spending too much money on medications and want to be able to do the right thing for patients in an economical way."
Dr. Ryan assigned the project to Mr. Brisso, who "hit the ground running," she said. The finished product saves money for health systems and patients alike.
"A pharmacist can have an impact on pretty much every patient-directed goal," Mr. Brisso told WOWT. "We want to improve the quality of care for our patients, and I think this is yet another example of how a pharmacist can impact that care."