Cost containment of reconstituted parenteral antibiotics: personnel and supply costs associated with preparation, dispensing, and administration.

Time-and-motion studies were conducted to determine the time and cost associated with the dispensing, preparation, and administration of reconstituted parenteral antibiotics via the piggyback iv admixture (PBS) or volume control iv set administration (VCS) methods in six hospitals of various sizes. Supply costs were calculated for each system. National projections of potential cost savings resulting from decreased number of administrations of reconstituted parenteral antibiotics were made. The antibiotic class of parenteral cephalosporins was chosen as an example of where cost containment might be achieved. The estimated potential for total cost containment for the average hospital per hospital bed resulting from decreased number of administrations of first- and second-generation cephalosporins ranged from $76.64 (25% reduction in doses administered) to $229.92 (75% reduction) for the PBS method and, similarly, $47.02 to $141.08 for the VCS method. The projected potential national cost savings resulting from decreased number of administrations of first- and second-generation cephalosporins based on predicted antibiotic usage for 1983 ranged from $62.2 million (25% reduction in doses administered and adjusting for no conversion to intramuscular or intravenous push administrations) to $276.7 million (75% reduction). Clinicians and health-care managers should consider the cost-containment advantages provided by the substitution of newer antibiotics that permit reduced frequency of administration.