Dover (Germany)

Efforts by New Jersey hospital pharmacists that led to a state mandate for unit dose drug distribution and i.v. admixture services are described. The New Jersey Society of Hospital Pharmacists' proposal for revision of state board of pharmacy regulations for institutional practice had been rejected in 1977. In 1979, NJSHP began to work through the state health department to upgrade standards for institutional pharmacy practice. In 1981, NJSHP submitted to the health department a position paper to justify revised standards on the basis of patient safety and cost-effectiveness, and in 1982 NJSHP conducted a seminar for pharmacists, nurses, and hospital administrators on the cost-effectiveness of unit dose distribution and i.v. admixture programs. The standards were revised and were adopted in June 1984, and hospitals had two years to implement the mandated programs.