as in the cost in $$$?
I'm just a lowly pre-pharm, but I've been wondering how much the IV drugs cost in hospitals. I've been volunteering at a hospital pharmacy and the only person who deals with costs is the Director of Pharmacy and the lady in charge of orders. I try to limit my questions to the pharmacist about drug usage and stuff, so I'm trying to find this answer on my own. I've been browsing around some manufacturers websites but I can't seem to find something related to invoices or whatnot.
The only thing google turned up is that usage of Zypak is more cost effective that Vancomycin.
Omega,
It's a great question. And no Zyvox is not more cost effective than Vancomycin.. only a Pfizer rep and people paid by Pfizer will say such a nonsense.
Isn't it too bad that the rest of pharmacy department isn't too preoccupied with cost of drugs? But I bet they all know what they paid for a gallon of gas yesterday... right?
But here goes.
All hospitals belong to a GPO (group purchasing organization) who charges manufacturers 3% of everything you buy under the contract. So if you pay $100 for a drug, the manufacturer pays your GPO $3. What a deal for the GPO, eh? I used to work for one. Premiere, Novation, Broadlane, HPG-PACT now Consorta, UHC, MedAssets, AmerinNet... are all GPOs.. And they all have differenct pricing for every item. So you may want to ask your director which GPO the hospital belongs to.
Now, there are 3 major wholesalers. Cardinal, AmerisourceBergen, and McKesson. They all have different prices for the same item. Then, depends on your hospitals payment term, the rebate amount can vary. Sooner you pay, larger the rebate. Prepay and get the best rebate. usually up to 3%. 3% of $50,000,000 is a lot of money. So ask your director which wholesaler the hospital uses.
Now, purchase of IV fluids and IV tubings usually isn't done through your wholesaler. There are 3 major IV vendors: Baxter, Hospira (Abbott) and B.Braun. And usually, these are shipped 2 to 3 times a week from their distribution center. And each company has different level of pricing depending on the volume and contract. A sharp DOP will assure that the same contract pricing is also loaded on their drug wholesalers system so if hospital runs out of certain IVs, they can order it through the wholesalers instead of direct purchase from IV vendors. Selection of IV vendor is usually influenced by nursing because IV pumps will dictate which IV your hospital will use.
Then, each drug manufacturer will make individual incentive contract with the hospital based on marketshare and it's usually tierd. So, larger the marketshare, larger the rebate.
I oversee a few hospital pharmacy operations so I know exactly what they pay for each item. And I keep track of it. And I can tell you most of your pharmacy directors don't really keep a keen interest on day to day purchase... but they should be.
I can give you a ball park pricing of what a typical hospital pays for drugs if you ask. But the best person to ask is your purchaser.
It's not everyday a prepharm student is interested in pricing of drugs. This is great. I wish you luck and if pharmacoeconomics and management is what you're interested in, PM me and stay in touch.
(Then again, the comparison is unfair since this is a 500 bed hospital ). Working for my pops puts me at a mindset of always questioning am I getting a bang for my buck, so that's what sparked this topic.
