Financial effect of converting ipratropium–albuterol therapy from inhalers to nebulizer treatments at an academic health system

Abstract

An automatic substitution of ipratropium-albuterol nebulization solution for MDIs resulted in a three-month savings of $99,359 in drug cost and an extrapolated full-year savings of $397,436. When additional costs associated with the substitution were taken into account, there was an overall savings of $146,806 during the implementation year and a projected savings of $257,936 for each following year.