FORMREVU: an online formulary adjunct to the HELP System in a community hospital.

The hospital formulary is an important information source on drug availability for staff physicians, nurses and therapists. To facilitate rapid access to formulary data and reduce printing costs, an online formulary review program, FORMREVU, was developed as an adjunct to the HELP System at Rex Hospital. FORMREVU, written in the PTXT Application Language (PAL), is menu-driven, and qualified users can select drug entries from lists matching a specific drug category or subcategory (e.g. cardiovascular drugs, cephalosporins) or keyword (e.g. lasix). Individual drug entries consist of trade and generic names, category and subcategory, comments, and available doses and corresponding manufacturers. A detailed description of the formulary review program, along with a review of implementation objectives and qualitative and quantitative benefits, will be presented.