Special Interest Groups (SIGs)

Special Interest Group in Drug Utilization/Health Services Research
Est. April 2006

Contact:

Morten Andersen

Morten.Andersen@ki.se

Mission Statement: To create a global forum for discussion and cooperation between drug utilization researchers

Initial Objectives:

• An ISPE website with a collection of national drug dictionaries, linked to the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical classification system (ATC) and the Defined Daily Dose unit of measurement system (DDD)
• Development of an ISPE policy statement (through regular ISPE policy statement processes) on Prescribing Quality Indicators
• Playing a participatory and official representative role in the current initiative of the European Science Foundation for development of a range of prescribing quality indicators: (eg. antibiotic prescribing quality indicators)
• Formal cooperation with large cross national comparative drug utilization studies (eg the European Surveillance of Antibiotic consumption (ESAC), and the European Society of Cardiology's EUROASPIRE group — European Action on Secondary Prevention through Intervention to Reduce Events)
• Enhanced participation in ISPE in communication with health insurer's organisations (both public and private) in Europe and US.

A Bit of History

The Special Interest Group in Drug Utilization Research (SIG-DUR) was created in Lisbon, on August 26, 2006, as the result of a convergence between

• the European Drug Utilization Research Group (EuroDURG)
• the International Society of Pharmacoepidemiology (ISPE)

Definition of Drug Utilization Research
Drug utilization research is an eclectic collection of descriptive and analytical methods and theories for the quantification, the understanding and the evaluation of the processes of prescribing, dispensing and consumption of medicines and the testing of interventions to enhance the quality of these processes.

Structure of the SIG Steering Committee

Chair:	Robert Vander Stichele
Vice-Chair:	Frank May
Members:	Ilse Truter (South Africa) Lynn Weekes (Australia) Peter Mol (Netherlands) AlRiyami Qasim (Oman) Junichi Kawakami (Japan) Julie Zito (USA)

Project Groups

Project Group 1:

Project Group Name: ATC/DDD browser
Project Group Acronym: ATC
Project Group Convenor: Robert Vander Stichele
Email: robert.vanderstichele@ugent.be

Project Group 2:

Project Group Name: Prescribing Quality Indicators
Project Group Acronym: PCI
Project Group Convenor: Flora Haaijer-Ruskamp
Email: F.M.Haaijer-Ruskamp@med.umcg.nl

Project Group 3:

Project Group Name: Cross-National Comparisons
Project Group Acronym: CNC
Project Group Convenor: Ilse Truter
Email: ilse.truter@nmm.ac.za

Project Group 4:

Project Group Name: Relationship with the health insurers
Project Group Acronym: RHI
Project Group Convenor: Frank May
Email: frank149@bigpond.net.au

Project Group 5:

Project Group Name: Methods for testing interventions
Project Group Acronym: MTI
Project Group Convenor: Debra Rowett
Email: debra.rowett@rgh.sa.gov.au

Meeting Reports

Inaugural meeting in Lisbon, August 26, 2006 (to be constructed)