Estimating the value of an internal biostatistical consulting service.
Biostatistical consulting is a service business. Although a consulting biostatistician's goal is long-term collaborative relationships with investigators, this is the same as the long-term goal of any business: having a group of contented, satisfied customers. In this era of constrained resources, we must be able to demonstrate that the benefit a biostatistical consulting group provides to its organization exceeds its actual cost to the institution. In this paper, I provide both a theoretical framework for assessing the value of a biostatistical service and provide an ad hoc method to value the contribution of a biostatistical service to a grant. Using the methods described, our biostatistics group returns more than $6 for each dollar spent on institutional support in 1998.
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston 02215, USA. robert_parker@caregroup.harvard.edu
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D001699:Biometry; D003253:Consultants; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D005249:Fees and Charges; D006761:Hospitals; D012106:Research / Q000191:economics; D012109:Research Support as Topic / Q000191:economics; D012456:Salaries and Fringe Benefits