Improving the quality of antimicrobial drug use can result in cost containment.

Antibiotic policies are implemented to optimize patient care, to limit antimicrobial resistance and to reduce costs. Before improving the use of antimicrobial drugs by monitoring, it is of primary importance to conduct a general utilization review to document problem areas within the hospital and to evaluate quality and costs. Subsequently, limited targets for an intervention can be defined. For the evaluation of quality, established criteria can be used to classify prescriptions into categories of appropriate use. Several classification systems are described in the literature. We have developed a classification method which allows evaluation of each relevant parameter associated with antimicrobial drug use and global (true) cost calculation. Data are processed in a computer program for Apple or Windows. Surgical prophylaxis is a target of choice to analyse at a hospital pharmacy level. Important cost savings can be obtained by implementing well-accepted standards of good antimicrobial prophylaxis.