Patient-care unit system for measuring clinical and distributive pharmacy workload.
A time-weighted measurement of workload for distributive and clinical pharmaceutical services, the Patient-care Unit (PCU) System, is described. The Department of Pharmaceutical Services and the School of Pharmacy at the University of California, San Francisco, defines each patient-care pharmaceutical activity and assigns it a weighted value (WPCU) based on the time required to complete the activity. Manpower requirements are based on WPCUs and records of activities performed. Forty-two WPCUs have been defined. Based on these units, the PCU System permits (1) determination of pharmacy time devoted to distributive and clinical pharmaceutical services, (2) evaluation of staffing requirements for existing or proposed programs, (3) measurement of departmental productivity, and (4) comparison of pharmaceutical services offered in different hospitals. Applications and limitations of the PCU concept, which has been adopted by nine other hospitals, are discussed. The PCU System is a step toward development of a uniform workload reporting system for hospital pharmacies.