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Using clinical interventions to cost-justify additional pharmacy staff.

H F Catania, P N Catania

    Hospital Pharmacy
    |May 9, 1988
    PubMed
    Summary

    This study explored whether clinical interventions by satellite pharmacists could generate enough savings to justify hiring an additional pharmacist at a 316-bed hospital. Over five months in 1986, 855 interventions were recorded, leading to $30,657 in drug cost savings. These savings translated to an estimated annual savings of $73,572, or a 54% return on investment. The hospital required a 10% return to approve the hire, and the study exceeded this threshold. Each intervention averaged $35.88 in savings, demonstrating the financial value of clinical pharmacy work. The findings suggest that tracking cost savings from interventions can support staffing decisions in healthcare.

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    Area of Science:

    • Hospital pharmacy economics
    • Clinical pharmacy interventions
    • Healthcare cost analysis

    Background:

    Healthcare institutions often struggle to balance staffing needs with financial constraints. It was already known that clinical pharmacy interventions could reduce drug expenditures. However, no prior work had resolved how to quantify these savings to justify new hires. This gap motivated the need to link specific interventions with measurable cost reductions. Hospital administrators typically require a clear return on investment before approving additional staff. The challenge lies in demonstrating that interventions directly translate into financial benefits. Previous studies lacked the detailed cost-saving data needed for such justification. This paper addresses that limitation by focusing on drug cost savings tied to specific pharmacist actions. The goal is to show how clinical interventions can meet financial thresholds for staffing decisions.

    Purpose Of The Study:

    The study aimed to determine whether clinical interventions by satellite pharmacists could generate sufficient cost savings to justify hiring an additional pharmacist. The hospital required a 10% return on investment in salary and benefits to approve the hire. The researchers focused on drug cost savings as the primary metric for evaluation. They collected data over five months in 1986 to assess the impact of pharmacist interventions. The study specifically examined how many interventions were needed to achieve the required return. The goal was to demonstrate that interventions could meet or exceed the financial threshold. The researchers also sought to calculate the average savings per intervention. This would help quantify the value of each clinical action taken by pharmacists.

    Keywords:
    pharmacy cost savingshospital staffingclinical interventionspharmacist return on investment

    Frequently Asked Questions

    The study showed that clinical interventions generated a 54% return on investment, exceeding the hospital's 10% threshold.

    Satellite pharmacists performed clinical interventions that led to drug cost savings, which were used to justify hiring an additional pharmacist.

    The hospital administration mandated a 10% return on investment in salary and benefits to approve the hiring of an additional pharmacist.

    Cost savings were calculated based on the drug cost reductions resulting from clinical interventions performed by satellite pharmacists.

    The average savings per intervention was $35.88, based on 855 interventions over five months.

    Related Experiment Videos

    Main Methods:

    The researchers analyzed clinical interventions performed by satellite pharmacists at a 316-bed hospital. They collected data over a five-month period in 1986. The focus was on interventions that directly affected drug costs. The hospital required a 10% return on investment in salary and benefits to justify the hire. The team tracked the number of interventions and their associated cost savings. They calculated total savings and annualized the results to meet the hospital's financial criteria. The study used a cost-benefit analysis to evaluate the return on investment. The researchers also computed the average savings per intervention to assess efficiency.

    Main Results:

    The study recorded 855 clinical interventions over five months. These interventions led to actual drug cost savings of $30,657. The estimated annual savings were $73,572, which represented a 54% return on investment. The hospital required a 10% return to justify hiring an additional pharmacist. The average savings per intervention was $35.88. This exceeded the threshold needed to support the hiring decision. The results clearly demonstrated that clinical interventions could meet financial goals. The findings provided concrete evidence for cost-justifying new pharmacy staff.

    Conclusions:

    The study successfully demonstrated that clinical interventions could cost-justify hiring an additional pharmacist. The researchers showed that drug cost savings met and exceeded the hospital's financial requirements. The 54% return on investment surpassed the mandated 10% threshold. The average savings per intervention was $35.88. This provided a clear metric for evaluating the value of each action. The results supported the use of clinical interventions as a financial justification tool. The findings align with the hospital's goal of linking staffing decisions to measurable outcomes. The study offers a replicable model for other healthcare institutions.

    The authors proposed that clinical interventions can be used to cost-justify additional pharmacy staff in healthcare settings.