E-PRESCRIBING
In this period of radical change and deep financial challenge for the NHS, Galen Limited is focussed on helping prescribers, medicine managers and commissioners to ‘Master the ART of saving’ in line with the QIPP* agenda, explains Jim Cowburn, Galen’s VP Marketing.
M
astering the ‘ART’ of saving in your prescribing budget can be helped by
three ART strategies:
Alternatives – less expensive alternatives which do not compromise patient care Reduce – reduce unnecessary prescribing and wastage Talk – talking and connecting with col- leagues to share ideas and strategies
Looking for alternatives can save you money
The consumer world has ‘gone wild’ for alternative searches in recent years with websites set up to compare everything from insurance to washing machines. But can or should it be done in prescribing?
Well why not? As long as a change of brand, or even molecule, is appropriate and safe. Finding appropriate alternative, less ex- pensive options is a cornerstone strategy to achieving savings in your prescribing budget.
How does Galen fit in with the Alter- natives strategy?
An average sized PCO (population approxi- mately 300k) could potentially save £270k per year by adopting just three of Galen’s trustsaver brands.1,2,3,4**
These potential savings could also be re- alised by new consortia where savings can help achieve efficiency targets or be divert- ed into other priority projects.
Reducing can help craft efficiency savings
Ways to REDUCE prescribing costs
There are a number of key areas to target in the ‘Reduce’ strategy:
• Reducing unnecessary prescribing • Reducing repeat prescribing, where ap- propriate
• Reducing wastage • Reducing drug errors
How can Galen help? How can Galen help?
Galen has developed some useful tools which may help you target a few of the
68 | national health executive Nov/Dec 11 Galen has developed a variety of initiatives to
areas listed above. These tools are freely available to healthcare professionals and medicines management teams and include:
• A new integrated care pathway for lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS)
• Overactive bladder medication review tool kit
• Osteoporosis medication review tool kit Communication
initiatives prescribing savings
The ‘Evaluation of the Scale, Causes and Costs of Waste Medicines’5
report estimates
that £300m per year is lost through wasted medicine in England, but that only 30-50% of this can be cost-effectively reduced.
So is it worth tackling the problem?
Up to £150m of direct savings is achiev- able5
and is money that the NHS cannot
afford to waste. Add to this the improved clinical benefits and associated indirect savings that reducing wasted medicines could offer, and the answer surely must be yes, it is worth it.
drive
A series of articles, written by independent opinion leaders, are also available on our website. These articles further explore the three general ‘ART’ strategies.
Footnotes *QIPP = Quality, Innovation, Productivity, Prevention
** This potential saving estimate is based on IMS data for an actual PCO with a population of approximately 300,000 and reflects the maximum potential based on 100% of prescriptions available being switched over to the applicable Galen product(s). Savings based on three of the trustsaver products only and on current list prices.
References
1. MIMS, October 2011 2. C+D, October 2011 3. IMS RSA Data, June 2011. 4. Data on file. Galen Limited. 5. York Health Economics Consortium/School of Phar- macy, University of London. Evaluation of the Scale, Causes and Costs of Waste Medicines. Nov 2010
FOR MORE INFORMATION Visit
www.trustsaver.co.uk
help you communicate and share ideas which can result in efficiency savings. Contact
info@galen.co.uk for further information.
Medicine Waste Awareness Campaigns
A commonly used initiative has been Medi- cine Waste Awareness Campaigns. Visit our website
www.trustsaver.co.uk to find out how such campaigns have resulted in significant savings.
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