One of the primary goals in today's medical environment is to find treatments that provide positive clinical outcomes but also satisfy pressures on healthcare professionals and hospitals to deliver care as cost effectively as possible. To attain this goal, a hospital must have a pharmacy and therapeutics committee that is both scientifically and economically sound. Based on the experience of over 25 years each of the former chairman of the pharmacy and therapeutics committee (R. Quintiliani) and the director of Drug Information Services (R. Quercia) at Hartford Hospital, a large tertiary hospital in Connecticut, this article addresses ways to accomplish this goal, with particular attention given to anti-infective agents.(Formulary 2003;38:594-602.) PUBLICATION ABSTRACT