Abstract
The main objective of this study was to investigate the potential role of pharmacoeconomic evaluation in the decisionβmaking process and management in healthcare in Poland. A group of 102 people with backgrounds in health economics/pharmacoeconomics was interviewed, including students (23), medical doctors (28), pharmacists (36), managers/economists (22). They came from such settings as hospitals, outpatient clinics, pharmacies, and the pharmaceutical industry. They were asked about sources of information that should be used by decision makers at different levels of healthcare sector, barriers to practical application of pharmacoeconomic evaluation results, criteria for inclusion/exclusion of drugs in a hospital formulary, means by which economic evaluation utilization could become more common, and finally about needs for education initiatives. Eighty six percent of respondents indicated that expert opinion and 66% that articles in reviewed scientific journals are the most important source of information for reimbursement decisions. At management level, expert opinion (77%) and scientific journals (65%) were also considered as an important source of information. In relations between the pharmacist/physician and patient, personal opinion was found to be vital (58%), followed by an expert opinion (55%), and by information from the scientific press (50%). As main barriers, interviewees recognized limited interest in pharmacoeconomic analyses focusing only on costβcontainment (77%) followed by lack of governmental agency involvement in introduction of the regulations (61%), difficulties in applying longβterm view (57%), and limited access to cost data (lack of national cost database) (57%). The survey results showed that acquisition cost (70%) and efficacy (96%) were considered to be crucial, while hospital savings were less important (50%). Also, a wider use of pharmacoeconomic studies may result from more educational initiatives (74%), creation of professional cost databases (72%), and transparent criteria of evaluation (69%). Eighty six percent of respondents expressed the desire to expand their current knowledge in the relevant areas of interest. Β© 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Hum Factors Man 15: 99β108, 2005.