www.stepselect.com a Medicines Management Tool
It was an important factor in the success of this programme that many clinical and pharmaceutical segments where linked in a professional sound medicines selection process, incorporating a therapeutic tender to ensure that there was full compliance with the requisite European Union procurement legislation.
In this programme, matrix models were used in the first step to identify the most clinically efficacious products within a pharmaceutical class. In the next step of the STEPS process, the packaging of the products selected in the first step was judged in a prospective manner using a standard regionally agreed template. This was then followed by a third and final step incorporating both procurement and a budget impact analysis. Finally, only the best valued medicines (usually two or three) were chosen as the preferred medicines (and supplier) in Northern Ireland.
STEP I – clinical evaluation
STEP II – risk assessment
STEP III – budgetary impact analysis
STEP IV – final procurement selection
The STEPS approach is well accepted by both prescribers and pharmacists because of the fact that product selection is based on quality aspects, such as efficacy, documented effects on end-points, safety, tolerability and ease of use.
The first pilot results with STEPS were discussed in a conference in Northern Ireland, January 2008, organised by the Northern Health and Social Care Trust. Under the motto “Quality + Safety = Improvement + Efficiency, outcomes were presented that even when the prime focus is on quality and safety, improved health outcomes can also be attained at reduced costs to the healthcare budget. The efficiencies achieved by this approach are therefore freed up to allow further investment in healthcare so creating a virtuous circle.
