GROUP HEALTH OF PUGET SOUND DRUG COSTS ARE 6% OF TOTAL CARE COST BUT HMO BEING "SQUEEZED" BY MARKETPLACE; OUTPATIENT SETTING DRUG COSTS $40.9 MIL.

Executive Summary

At Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound, "drugs is the second largest line-item in each of our medical centers except for hospitals, and so there continues to be constant scrutiny of the cost of drugs," Director of Medication Use Management Bill Baluch said at the Drug Information Association's March 16-17 pharmaceutical outcomes research meeting in Vancouver. Although staff compensation is "by far" the largest expense, Baluch said drug costs represent about 6% of Group Health's total cost of care. He noted that "care and drug costs are now clearly inventoried."