Pharmaceutical Waste Reduction Strategies
Use trial sizes for initial prescriptions
For patients starting new prescriptions, a trial size is issued initially, which can be filled later in full, especially for medications with high rates of discontinuation.
Reduces Amount: Yes
Reduces Toxicity: No
Examples of Applying this Strategy
Additional Resources
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has adopted rules to encourage trial prescriptions by providing a pro-rated co-pay. See pp. 22126-22134 of the Federal Register notice, here: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-04-12/html/2012-8071.htm
Daughton, Christian, Green Pharmacy and PharmEcovigilance: Prescribing and the Planet," Clinical Pharmacology, page 222.
http://www.expert-reviews.com/doi/pdf/10.1586/ecp.11.6
Green Guide for Health Care (GGHC) Pharmaceutical Mangement Technical Brief
http://www.gghc.org/documents/TechBriefs/GGHC_TechBrief_Pharmaceutical.pdf
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