Between 2013 and 2015, inpatient hospital drug costs jumped an average of 38.7 percent per admission, making it difficult for many hospitals to manage their budgets, according to a recent analysis from the independent research organization NORC at the University of Chicago.
Researchers analyzed the unit prices of drugs classified as "high-spend" medications — based on volume, price or both — and found large price increases in this category.
Here are 10 "high-spend" drugs with the most significant price increases. The figures represent total spending by group purchasing organizations for more than 1,400 hospitals, according to the American Hospital Association.
Drug: 2013 spending — 2014 spending — 2015 spending
- Calcitonin-salmon: $4,932,748 — $12,529, 284 — $73,082,412
- Ephedrine sufate: $7,533,234 — $10,528,689 — $34,552,474
- Glycopyrrolate: $4,932,748 — $66,606,577 — $73,082,412
- Hydralazine: $6,951,150 — $7,725,372 — $17,568,936
- Isoproterenol: $5,602,447 —$23,066,826 — $86,541,461
- Neostigmine methysulfate: $56,818 — $4,311,153 — $78,814,217
- Nitroprusside: $9,802,140 —$48,278,606 — $94,966,434
- Phytonadione: $12,731,141 — $20,809,335 — $35,609,824
- Pyrimethamine: $595,748 — $801,690 — $812,109
- Sodium benzoate: $4,857,185 — $3,559,993 — $12,651,343
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