Improving the efficiency of distributive and clinical services in hospital pharmacy.

Three problems impede the assessment of hospital pharmacy efficiency. First, although multiple efficiency indicators are utilized to measure a large variety of activities, it has not been possible to validly measure overall efficiency. Second, there have been no widely-used clinical activity indicators, so key outputs often have not been accounted for.

Measuring hospital efficiency with Data Envelopment Analysis: nonsubstitutable vs. substitutable inputs and outputs.

There is a conflict between Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) theory's requirement that inputs (outputs) be substitutable, and the ubiquitous use of nonsubstitutable inputs and outputs in DEA applications to hospitals. This paper develops efficiency indicators valid for nonsubstitutable variables. Then, using a sample of 87 community hospitals, it compares the new measures' efficiency estimates with those of conventional DEA measures.

Association between hospital size and pharmacy department productivity.

Purpose: The purposes of this study were to characterize and quantify workload and productivity in hospitals according to their size, to establish comparative statistics useful for pharmacy administrators as a means to contrast their efficiency to that of other hospitals of similar sizes, and to provide data to enable policymakers to better assess staffing and resource needs.

Methods: A 50-item Web-based survey designed to illicit information about pharmacy department staffing, workload, and productivity was sent electronically to 242 members of Consorta, Inc., a group-purchasing organization.

Monitoring of pharmacy staffing, workload, and productivity in community hospitals.

Purpose: The purpose of this survey was to identify and characterize pharmacy productivity monitoring systems used in community hospitals that were part of a national group purchasing organization (GPO).

Methods: A 50-item questionnaire was developed, pretested, and sent electronically to the directors of pharmacy at 242 member hospitals of Consorta, Inc., a national GPO.