Pharmacy Benefits Management (PBM), a system that manages benefits in the purchase and sale of drugs, is of relatively recent implementation in Brazil. Taking into account that the development of bacterial resistance is related to the inadequate prescription of antibiotics or to the use of low activity antibiotics, this study sought to assess the capability of PBM to provide useful information on the profiles of prescription and purchase of systemic antibiotics. The data used for this purpose were collected from the database of a Brazilian PBM company and related to a group of 6 525 metalworkers of a company located in the region of Campinas, SP, and to their dependents, covering the period from January to April 2005. Of the drugs purchased, 7.7% were systemic antibiotics, with a mean of 2.4 antibiotics and a mean cost of R$ 51.80 per prescription. Amoxicillin was the most prescribed drug. In 92.7% of cases, users purchased the prescribed drug within one day of the medical visit. Based on the lists of purchased pharmaceutical specialties (per retail package), manufacturers, antibiotics present in the composition of each product, prescription dates, and dispensation dates, the system was found capable of providing relevant information on the theme investigated.
Pharmacy Benefits Management; Antibiotics; Drugs; Drugs
