Background ‘Agios Georgios’ Chania General Hospital (CGH) on the island of Crete has 460 beds and Sismanoglio General Hospital (SGH), in the capital of Greece, Athens, has 439 beds. In the Greek National Health System the uninsured poor patients receive their dugs free of charge from the hospital pharmacies.

Purpose To compare the pharmacoeconomic profiles of the two hospitals.

Materials and Methods We examined the pharmacoeconomic data for the first half of 2011. Data were extracted from the Hospital Information Systems.

Results 14,998 patients were hospitalised in CGH and 15,520 patients in SGH with a mean number of nursing days 3.99 vs. 3.55.

The total cost of drugs was €6,705,297 vs. €4,933,028 (P < 0.05) respectively.

The drugs cost for the inpatients was €5,034,701 vs. €3,965,127 and the mean cost per impatient per nursing day was €77.67 vs. €67.23.

The drugs cost for the insured outpatients was €1,452,668 vs. €713,203 (1,595 prescriptions vs. 1,152, P < 0.05), and the mean cost per prescription was €909.42 vs. €619.10 (P < 0.05).

For the uninsured outpatients the drugs bill was €217,928 vs. €254,694 (3,506 prescriptions vs. 2,016 P < 0.05) and the mean prescription cost was €62.16 vs. €126.34 (P < 0.05).

The percentage cost for the main categories of drugs were: cytostatics 16.50% vs. 10.65%, antibiotics 21.65% vs. 24.51%, antirheumatics 7.54% vs. 4.55%, cardiovascular 5.57% vs. 3.98% and erythropoietins 11.45% vs. 3.11% (P < 0.05).

The ratio of generics to patented medicines was 40.32%:59.68% and 39.14%:60.86%

Conclusions We found statistical differences among the pharmacoeconomic data of the two hospitals. In SGH, HIV+ patients are served (27.47% of uninsured and 47.35% of insured outpatients) and this is reflected in the increased cost of the outpatients while erythropoietins and cytostatics cost differences are related to the hospital departments (Oncology, Haematology, Pulmonary clinics), the different DRGs and treatment protocols followed in each hospital.

No conflict of interest.