Problem 11.6 Currently, pharmacy costs in the hospital’s ICUs average $2,600 per case.

The hospital is paid entirely on a DRG-based payment system. On average, the surgical intensive care unit (SICU) and medical intensive care unit (MICU) treat 30 cases each per month. It has been asserted that a clinical pharmacist assigned to each ICU could reduce pharmaceutical use by 25%. A clinical pharmacist is paid $90,000 plus fringe benefits of 25%. Does it make financial sense to hire two clinical pharmacists to cover the ICUs?