What is the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee?

The aim of this article is to give you an idea of what the PTC is and what its responsibilities are. The PTC is a policy recommending body that oversees medication management in health systems. PTC includes not just pharmacists, but also physicians, nurses, administrators, risk and quality improvement managers etc.

There are also sub-committees under the PTC, for example, drug review panels that focus on a particular specialty, reviewing the drug products and guidelines of this specialty. The safety task force that reviews adverse events and medication errors and develops plans to prevent future events. The medication use review task force analyses medication use reviews and development plans to optimize specific drug use.

The PTC evaluates, educates, and advises medical staff and organisational administration in all matters pertaining to the use of medications.

They exist to:

• Oversee policies and procedures.
• Outline bylaws, rules, regulations, and other organizational policies.
• Improve the safety of drug therapy and improve therapeutic outcomes.

In the PTC, pharmacists are essential to the formulary management process.

PTC responsibilities include

• Establish PTC meeting agenda.
• Analyse and disseminate scientific, clinical, and health economic aspects of a medication or therapeutic class.
• Conduct drug use evaluation and data analysis.
• Record and archive PTC actions.
• Follow-up with research.
• Communicate PTC decisions to other health care professionals.

The PTC performs the following functions:

• Establish and maintain the Formulary Systems.
• Select medications based on the relative clinical, quality of life, safety, and pharmacoeconomic outcomes.
• Evaluate medication use and related outcomes.
• Prevent and monitor adverse drug reactions and medication errors.
• Evaluate, develop, and promote drug therapy guidelines.
• Develops policies and procedures for handling medications, include procurement, prescribing, distribution, and administration processes.
• Educate health professionals to the optimal use of medications.

PTC also maintains the formulary system.

Share and learn:

Are you a part of your hospital’s PTC? Share your experiences.

If not, what do you know about your hospital’s PTC?