scholarly journals Clinical and Economic Impact of Pharmacists’ Intervention on Care of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Patients

2021 ◽  
pp. 107815522110681
Author(s):  
Hyun Jee Kim ◽  
Sunghee Lee ◽  
Yu Jin Lee ◽  
Sunghwan Kim ◽  
Yun Hee Jo ◽  
...  

Introduction Children with cancer may be one of the most vulnerable groups to drug-related adverse events because they possess characteristics of patients with cancer as well as pediatric patients. To evaluate the clinical and economic impact of pharmacists’ intervention on the care of pediatric hematology and oncology patients in the inpatient and outpatient settings of a children's hospital. Methods The pharmacist-intervention records from 2017 were retrospectively reviewed. Intervention rate, type of drug-related problems, acceptance rate, and frequently involved drugs in pharmacist interventions were analyzed. One physician and one pharmacist evaluated the clinical significance of each intervention. A cost-benefit analysis was conducted from hospital and patient perspective. The benefit from cost savings by reducing the number of prescribed drugs that are disposed was estimated as the benefit from hospital perspective. The benefit from cost avoidance based on the potential to avoid an adverse drug event (ADE) was estimated as the benefit from patient perspective. The cost of reviewing prescriptions was estimated based on the pharmacists’ salary and the time involved. Results In 2017, 2361 interventions were performed in 381 pediatric patients with cancer. The acceptance rate was 97.2%. More than half of the interventions were regarded as clinically “significant” (58.8%) and “very significant” (14.6%). The cost-benefit of US$28,705 was determined from hospital perspective, with a cost-benefit ratio of 1.45:1. The cost-benefit of US$35,611 was calculated from patient perspective, with a cost-benefit ratio of 1.55:1. Conclusions Pharmacists’ intervention in the care of hematology and oncology pediatric patients was effective in preventing clinically significant ADEs and had a positive economic impact on the health-care budget from both hospital and patient perspective.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feyza Incekoy Girgin ◽  
Makbule Nilufer Ozturk

Abstract Aim: This study aimed to determine the factors that increase and decrease the presence of the nosocomial infections in pediatric patients with traumatic brain injury, and the effects on both treatment cost and length of hospital stay.Methods: We performed a case-control study on patients admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) with (n=66) or without (n=120) traumatic brain injury (TBI) between 2012 and 2014. The risk factors, length of stay, and costs of nosocomial infections, were determined. Results: Data for 186 patients were analyzed. Hundred and twenty patients were controls (54 males vs. 66 females), while 66 were cases (27 males vs. 39 females). Seventeen out of the 186 PICU patients had nosocomial infections. The most isolated microbial agent was Acinetobacter baumannii (four cases). Thirteen (76.5%) out of the 17 infections were catheter-related bloodstream infections. The mean expenses per PICU patient were $762, with an additional cost of $2081 for patients with nosocomial contamination. Conclusion: The use of catheters was the most critical risk factor for nosocomial infections in our study. The cost was probably underestimated for several reasons. Nevertheless, the findings supported our hypothesis about the additional burden of nosocomial spread on PICU patients. The results of this study should help to provide evidence on cost-effectiveness or calculating the cost-benefit ratio of reducing nosocomial infections in children.


Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 744
Author(s):  
Sophie I. Mavrogeni ◽  
Flora Bacopoulou ◽  
George Markousis-Mavrogenis ◽  
George Chrousos ◽  
Evangelia Charmandari

Obesity represents one of the most challenging public health problems of our century. It accounts for approximately 5% of deaths worldwide, mostly owing to cardiovascular disease and its associated complications. Cardiovascular noninvasive imaging may provide early accurate information about hypertrophy and ischemia/fibrosis in obese subjects. Echocardiography and nuclear cardiology have serious limitations in obese subjects owing to poor acoustic window and attenuation artifacts, respectively. Coronary computed tomography angiography can provide information about obstructive coronary disease; however, the use of radiation is a serious disadvantage. Finally, cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) holds the promise of an “all in one” examination by combining evaluation of function, wall motion/thickness, stress rest/perfusion, replacement and diffuse fibrosis without radiation. Future studies are required to document the cost/benefit ratio of the CMR in the evaluation of cardiovascular risk in overweight/obese children and adolescents.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 89 (1) ◽  
pp. 169-169
Author(s):  
NORMAN J. SISSMAN

To the Editor.— Two recent reviews in Pediatrics1,2 provide much interesting information on the effect of home visits on the health of women and children. However, I was disappointed not to find in either article more than token reference to the cost of the programs reviewed. In this day of increasingly scarce health care resources, we no longer have the luxury of evaluating programs such as these without detailed consideration of their cost-benefit ratio.


2015 ◽  
Vol 48 (5) ◽  
pp. 319-323 ◽  
Author(s):  
André Hadyme Miyague ◽  
Fernando Marum Mauad ◽  
Wellington de Paula Martins ◽  
Augusto César Garcia Benedetti ◽  
Ana Elizabeth Gomes de Melo Tavares Ferreira ◽  
...  

AbstractThe authors review the main concepts regarding the importance of cleaning/disinfection of ultrasonography probes, aiming a better comprehension by practitioners and thus enabling strategies to establish a safe practice without compromising the quality of the examination and the operator productivity. In the context of biosafety, it is imperative to assume that contact with blood or body fluids represents a potential source of infection. Thus, in order to implement cleaning/disinfection practice, it is necessary to understand the principles of infection control, to consider the cost/benefit ratio of the measures to be implemented, and most importantly, to comprehend that such measures will not only benefit the health professional and the patient, but the society as a whole.


2014 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 165-172
Author(s):  
Praveen Kumar Verma ◽  
SK Nag ◽  
SK Patil

The paper has studied the economic viability of improved technology (Introduced under NAIP component-3) for extraction of cashew kernel from cashew nut in Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, India. Cost concept has been used to calculate economics of cashew kernel. The technology (Boiling, steaming, cutting, drying, and peeling) has been found viable over conventional practices (Traditional manual separation by stone or hammer) on account of higher recovery of 40 percent and cost reduction by 29.71 percent. Overall net profit per unit (One unit includes one boiler, one steamer, two cutter, one dryer, six peelers and cost of land, depreciation and interest on working capital) in the case of improved technology has been estimated to be Rs 7.32 lakh. Cost of production in machine extraction practices was 202.80 Rupees per kilogram of cashew in spite of traditionally practiced 288.56 Rupees per kilogram. The cost benefit ratio was found higher in machine extraction (1.57) as compare to traditionally practiced (0.169). The mechanical decortications and separation could not only save time and money, also reduced women drudgery (due to manual breaking by stone or hammer to separate kernel). The technology has been found suitable for promotion of entrepreneurship on the processing of cashew kernel from cashew nut in the production catchments which otherwise is not properly utilized. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjar.v39i1.20166 Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 39(1): 165-172, March 2014


2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 292-296
Author(s):  
Luiz Carlos Buarque Gusmão ◽  
Sérgio Henrique Chagas Valoes ◽  
José da Silva Leitão Neto

The objective is to reinforce the importance of blood reinfusion as a cheap, safe and simple method, which can be used in small hospitals, especially those in which there is no blood bank. Moreover, even with the use of devices that perform the collection and filtration of blood, more recent studies show that the cost-benefit ratio is much better when autologous transfusion is compared with blood transfusions, even when there is injury to hollow viscera and blood contamination. It is known that the allogeneic blood transfusion carries a number of risks to patients, among them are the coagulation disorders mediated by excess enzymes in the conserved blood, and deficiency in clotting factors, mainly the Factor V, the proacelerin. Another factor would be the risk of contamination with still unknown pathogens or that are not investigated during screening for selection of donors, such as the West Nile Fever and Creutzfeldt-Jacob, better known as "Mad Cow" disease. Comparing both methods, we conclude that blood autotransfusion has numerous advantages over heterologous transfusion, even in large hospitals. We are not against blood transfusions, just do not agree that the patient's own blood is discarded without making sure there will be enough blood in stock to get him out of the hemorrhagic shock.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-120
Author(s):  
Segun Adebayo ◽  
Ozichi Emuoyibofarhe ◽  
Tolulope Awofolaju

Farmers are faced with challenges of producing enough food and the use of traditional methods seems not to keep pace with the ever-growing demand of the populace thus creating increased concern in food scarcity. Although it has been identified that smart tools will enhance the production pace needed in the Agricultural sector, unfortunately, most of these tools are designed for farmers without their inputs, thus creating tools that are not meeting demands. This study focused on a farmer-centered design, development, and deployment approach to improving farm productivity. The design thinking approach was used to identify the specific need of the farmers in selected areas, ideas were created using brainstorming sessions involving experts in the field, and prototypes were developed and deployed to evaluate the impact performance. The result shows that the proposed system improved the cost-benefit ratio of crop farming from 2.14 to 2.26. This is a 12% productivity increase.


2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saidatou Dicko

<p>This study investigates the impact of political connections on the awarding of government contracts to Canadian companies.<strong> </strong>Two-stage least squares (2SLS) analyses were performed on a sample of S&amp;P/TSX companies from 2010 to 2014 inclusively.<strong> </strong>The results show that political connections are positively and significantly associated with the winning of government contracts. Politically connected firms obtain more government contracts and higher contract values than non-connected firms. Political connections thus appear to be directly associated with securing government contracts in the Canadian context. Firms can view political connections as a non-market, long-term strategy to help them gain competitive advantages and improve their performance. Accordingly, they tend to appoint directors and managers taking these connections and the advantages that can be gained into account. However, they must seriously consider the cost-benefit ratio of this strategy. For example, the costs incurred could be ethical in nature and firms could find themselves in a position of conflict of interest that could lead to extensive negative media exposure.<strong> </strong>These results alert regulatory and governmental organizations to the need for them to remain vigilant and to strengthen corporate governance regulations to prevent the excesses and abuses that could arise from firms’ political actions.<strong> </strong>Our study is the first to demonstrate a direct relationship between corporate political connections and government contracts in the Canadian context. The results confirm the growing interdependence between politics and business, particularly the increase in the number of corporate actions intended to influence government decisions.</p>


2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1260-1268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cassie Rushing ◽  
Misti Sparks

A qualitative study was conducted to examine the decision-making factors of entering a stay-at-home father and working mother relationship based on the mother’s perspective. A total of 20 married, heterosexual, working mothers with biological children aged 1 to 4 years were asked questions regarding how they decided to enter a stay-at-home father and working mother relationship as well as contributing factors to this decision. The findings presented in this article were part of a larger study that examined mothers’ overall perspectives of the working mother stay-at-home father dynamics. The themes that emerged regarding how the decision was made to enter this kind of relationship were creating a work–family life balance, utilizing the cost-benefit ratio, and applying personality/trait strengths.


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