Health outcomes and pharmacoeconomics: An ID pharmacist's perspective

For many decades, antimicrobial agents have been a target of cost containment among pharmacies and hospitals. In the past, discussions on cost containment were limited to drug price and did not include outcome measures. In addition to traditional outcome markers of infectious diseases, clinical and bacteriologic improvement, humanistic and economic considerations are now important in achieving quality and cost-effective health care. The costs of preparing, administering, and monitoring antimicrobials, as well as the costs of failures and adverse events, must be considered to achieve true outcomes-based economic analyses.