Switching hospitalized patients from intravenous medications to pill forms of the same drugs could safely save millions of dollars a year, according to new research from Johns Hopkins.
For their study, Johns Hopkins researchers compared the costs for four commonly prescribed IV medications — chlorothiazide, voriconazole, levetiracetam and pantoprazole — to their oral equivalents. The researchers concluded Johns Hopkins Hospital could safely reap savings of more than $1.1 million in the Department of Medicine alone (not including surgical patients) by swapping out the IV medications for oral alternatives.
Researchers also concluded a large-scale switch to oral medications has the potential to reduce the need for puncturing veins to insert intravenous tubes or medications directly, which is associated with a higher risk of hospital-acquired bloodstream infections.
The researchers noted that not all patients are able to switch from the IV form to the oral form of a drug.
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For their study, Johns Hopkins researchers compared the costs for four commonly prescribed IV medications — chlorothiazide, voriconazole, levetiracetam and pantoprazole — to their oral equivalents. The researchers concluded Johns Hopkins Hospital could safely reap savings of more than $1.1 million in the Department of Medicine alone (not including surgical patients) by swapping out the IV medications for oral alternatives.
Researchers also concluded a large-scale switch to oral medications has the potential to reduce the need for puncturing veins to insert intravenous tubes or medications directly, which is associated with a higher risk of hospital-acquired bloodstream infections.
The researchers noted that not all patients are able to switch from the IV form to the oral form of a drug.
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