Pharmacy and Therapeutics

Committee (PTC)
• Definition:
An advisory group of the medical staff which serves as the
organizational line of communication between the
medical staff and pharmacy department.

• It is composed of physicians, pharmacists and other

health care professionals selected by the medical staff.
 Function of PTC
• Develop hospital drug formulary

• Establish suitable education programs for staff

• Study problems of drug distribution and administration of

medication

• Drug safety and adverse drug monitoring

• Advice for rational use of drugs in the hospital

• Make recommendations to drugs to be stocked

 Organisation of the Pharmacy and Therapeutics
Committee

1. It should be composed of at least three physicians, a pharmacist

and a representative of the nursing staff. The members are either
appointed or elected. The hospital administrator should be a
member in the committee.
2. A chairman is appointed from physicians and the pharmacist is
usually designated secretary.
3. The committee should meet regularly at least 6 times per year and
when necessary.
4. The committee can invite its meetings persons within or outside
the hospital who can contribute specialized or unique knowledge,
skills .
5. An agenda or supplementary materials should be prepared by the secretary
and sent to all members before meeting.
6. Recommendations of the committee should be presented to staff for
adoption.

is defined as an authorized, structured, review of prescribing, dispensing and

use of medication for evaluating & improving medication- use processes
with the goal of optimal patient outcomes
The goals of DUR are:
• Evaluating the effectiveness of medication therapy.
• To detect and help prevent drug-interactions.
• To help detect and prevent adverse drug reactions.
• To detect and prevents IV additive incompatibilities.
• To detect possible drug-induced diseases.
• To help detect and potential drug-toxicities.
• Promoting optimal medication therapy
• Minimizing costs of medication therapy.
1. The medication is known or suspected to cause ADR, or it interacts with
another medication, food.
2. The medication is used in the treatment of patients who may be at high
risk for adverse reactions.
3. The medication is frequently prescribed.
4. The medication is potentially toxic or causes discomfort at normal doses.
5. The medication is under consideration for formulary addition, or
deletion.
6. Use of the medication is expensive
Certain events (indicators) serve as “flags” of potential opportunities to improve
medication use, including;

•Signs of treatment failures, such as unexpected readmissions& bacterial

resistance to anti-infective therapy.

• Patient dissatisfaction or deterioration in quality of life.

• Non-formulary medications used or requested.

1. Developing a plan for MUE programs& processes
2. Working with prescribers and others to develop criteria for medications monitorin

3. Reviewing individual medication orders against medication-use criteria &

consulting with prescribers

4. Collecting, analyzing, and evaluating patient-specific data to identify, resolve,

and prevent medication related problems.

5. Interpreting and reporting MUE findings and recommending changes in

medication-use processes.
6. Providing information and recommendations based on MUE findings.
 Hospital Formulary
• Definition:
The hospital formulary is a continuously revised list of the
medications that the hospital pharmacy stocks, along with
information about each medication.
It is Prepared by the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee

Drugs are listed in the formulary by names followed by information

on strength, form, toxicology and use.
The formulary should be updated regularly with new drugs products,
new uses, or dosing regimens
FORMULARY CONTENT & ORGANIZATION

• Primary objectives:
a) Information on drug
b) Information on hospital policies & procedures
c) Special information about drugs

In accordance with these objectives, the formulary

should consist of three main parts:

A.Information on hospital policies & procedures

concerning drugs.
B. Drug products listing
C. Special information

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A.HOSPITAL POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
• D r u g use
• Description of PTC
• Hospital regulations about prescribing, dispensing & administration
of drug, rules for Medical Reps, emergency drug products,
• Pharmacy operating procedures
• Information on using formulary

B. Drug products listing

• List of abbreviations
• List of drugs used in the formulary
• Basic information on each drug:

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 Efficacy for the treatment of specific conditions
 SafetyIntroduction
profile of the item
 Interaction profile, Adverse effects , Pharmacokinetic profile
 Cost
 Acceptability to patients
 Storage guidelines
 Patient counseling information
 Labelling information

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 General drug use and advice

• Use of IV drugs
• Special situations like pregnancy, breast feeding, liver/kidney
diseases
• Poisoning information and antidotes
• Treatment of snakebites and insect bites
C. Special information
•  Metric conversion tables
Rules for calculating pediatric dosages
• List of sugar free drugs  Poison control information
• List of dialyzable poisons  Table of drug interactions

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