Reporting the Real Value of a Hospital Pharmacy Service

Abstract

ABSTRACTBackgroundHospital pharmacy managers have to account for the expenditure of millions of dollars of public funds for drugs provided in healthcare delivery. There appeared to be variation in the method of reporting drug expenditure data in Australian hospitals.AimTo investigate the reporting practices used by hospital pharmacy departments to account for their drug expenditure.MethodPharmacy managers of Australia's major metropolitan and rural hospitals were surveyed for their financial reporting practices. These baseline data were then compared to the financial reporting methods used by UK hospital pharmacy managers (a comparable public health provider). Hospital administrators were also interviewed to determine their ideal drug expenditure report.ResultsThe baseline survey consisted of 93 responses and demonstrated that varying types of financial reporting are used with a primary focus on gross expenditure and high‐cost drug use with variable definition. Few drug expenditure reports considered cost per patient treated. Other pharmacy services delivered adjacent to this expenditure were separately reported.ConclusionSignificant variation was identified in reporting hospital drug expenditure data. The disparate models of financial reporting in Australia are in contrast with the unified UK model. A reporting template is proposed that will provide a means of identifying key variation in expenditure alongside service delivery.