Hospital formularies: moving towards extinction or evolution?

Abstract

Since their introduction, drug formularies and formulary systems have gone through many changes. However, at present, even greater changes are underway as a result of the reorganisation of the US healthcare system. They are no longer simply a means of adding, deleting or restricting the use of drugs, but are one of several appropriate-use strategies that can be used to standardise the quality of drug use and to assist in the management of medical outcomes. The evolution of hospital formularies and ways to develop, refine and implement effective appropriate-use programmes were presented during the 1996 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists [ San Diego, US; June 1996 ].