Return on investment of a pharmacy residency training program.

PURPOSE: The return on investment of pharmacy residency training at a Veterans Affairs hospital was estimated.
METHODS: The financial costs and benefits associated with one year's training of eight residents were estimated retrospectively. The costs were compared with estimated costs for training newly hired pharmacists without institutional experience. The residents' work output as measured by notations in progress notes was compared with that of their pharmacist preceptors, and this ratio was used in establishing an amount the institution would be willing to pay for a resident's output.
RESULTS: The estimated benefit-to-cost ratio for the residency program was favorable. Hiring its residents rather than new, untrained pharmacists for full-time positions was estimated to benefit the hospital.
CONCLUSION: The benefit-to-cost ratio of the residency training program was estimated to be 1.5:1. Resident productivity was estimated to save the institution $563,936 annually.