Intravenous Sedation in the Intensive Care Unit: Applying Pharmacoeconomic Principles

Joseph F. Dasta, M.S., B.S.Pharm., FCCM, FCCP is Professor Emeritus, The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy and Adjunct Professor, University of Texas College of Pharmacy in Austin, Texas. He retired from The Ohio State University (OSU) in 2007 after 31 years, and he currently resides in Austin. He serves as a health care consultant to pharmaceutical and device companies, and provides ICU pharmacy consulting services to Seton Medical Center Williamson County. Mr. Dasta has provided evaluation and insight into investigational and marketed drugs and devices, formulary evaluations, protocol development, and pharmacoeconomic perspectives.

Mr. Dasta was one of the first pharmacist members of the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) and helped establish the role of the pharmacist in this multidisciplinary society. SCCM honored him by creating the Joseph F. Dasta Critical Care Pharmacy Outcomes Research Grant in 2000. He was recently elected to a three-year term on council. He is a Fellow of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy and the American College of Critical Care Medicine. He serves on the editorial board of Critical Care Medicine and Annals of Pharmacotherapy, and he has more than 200 peer-reviewed publications, abstracts, brief communications, and book chapters. He has given over 250 lectures on various topics related to critical care and health outcomes. His research has focused on health economics and patient safety of acute care pharmaceuticals. Specific areas of interest include acute pain, sedation, sepsis, acute renal failure, acute heart failure, and hypertensive emergencies.

Mr. Dasta received his Bachelor of Science in pharmacy in 1974 from West Virginia University School of Pharmacy and M.S. and residency in hospital pharmacy from OSU in 1976. He was the 2008 recipient of the Jack L. Beal Post-baccalaureate Alumni Award from OSU. He began his academic career in 1976 at OSU and developed one of the first practice sites and post-doctoral training programs in critical care pharmacy. He has trained 11 residents and nine fellows who have become prominent practitioners, researchers, and leaders in the profession and in the pharmaceutical industry.

Sandra L. Kane-Gill, Pharm.D., M.S., FCCM, FCCP received her baccalaureate pharmacy degree from Wayne State University in 1994.  She completed an ASHP accredited pharmacy practice residency at West Virginia University Hospital. In 1998, she received her Doctorate of Pharmacy from the University of Toledo. Dr. Kane-Gill then pursued her Masters of Science in Pharmacy Administration with emphasis on Pharmacoeconomics and Health Outcomes at The Ohio State University, and she completed her Critical Care Fellowship at The Ohio State University. Upon completion of her training she joined the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh, School of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacy and Therapeutics in the Center for Pharmacoinformatics and Outcomes Research in 2001. She was promoted to an Associate Professor in the School of Pharmacy in 2008. In addition, she is the Critical Care Patient Safety Officer at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Department of Pharmacy.

Dr. Kane-Gill’s research interests focus on economic, clinical, and humanistic evaluations for critically ill patients; specifically patient safety, quality of life in the critically ill, and developing models of cost for acute illness.  She has served as Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator on several funded research grants in this area of study. Her work has been presented at several national and international professional meetings. She has published over 50 articles and book chapters.

Dr. Kane-Gill is committed to the education and training of future clinical pharmacists and researchers.  She worked collaboratively to develop the first critical care elective at the University of Pittsburgh in the School of Pharmacy using human patient simulation.  She has mentored several pharmacy residents in research projects. Dr. Kane-Gill is dedicated to the advancement of the profession of pharmacy through active membership in organizations such as the ACCP, SCCM, and the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research. Dr. Kane-Gill was recognized for her contributions to critical care medicine and pharmacy with her induction as a Fellow into the American College of Critical Care Medicine and as a Fellow in the American College of Clinical Pharmacy.