Abstract
Biostatistics are indispensable in clinical medicine because doctors increasingly need to publish and understand medical articles that use statistical methods. An opportunity is needed for medical doctors to interact with biostatisticians on statistical issues. This paper's objective is to determine how much it costs to establish a biostatistics clinic and what revenue is required to run the clinic. A balance sheet was used to outline the revenue and expenses of a statistics clinic using a simple method introduced by the author. Expenses for personnel, material, and tenancy costs were 41.9, 18.1, and 25.1% of the total, respectively. To run, the biostatistics clinic required 200 research design engagements, 1200 h of hourly consultation, and 6600 h of data processing. To acquire scientific grants, each of four biostatisticians had to write one academic paper annually. The results show that a biostatistics clinic could be managed profitably based on the assumptions in this study.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Altman, D. G., Gore, S. M., and Gardner, M. J., Statistical guidelines for contributors to medical journals. BMJ 286:1489–1493, 1983.
Lewis, J. A., Jones, D. R., and Rohmel, J., Biostatistical methodology in clinical trials—European guideline. Stat.Med. 14:1655–1657, 1995.
Altman, D. G., Statistics in medical journals. Developments in the 1980s. Stat.Med. 10:1897–1913, 1991.
Armitage, P., and Berry, G., Statistical Methods in Medical Research, 3rd ed., Blackwell Scientific, Oxford, 1994.
Essex-Sorlie, D., Examination & Board Review: Medical Biostatistics & Epidemiology, Prentice-Hall, London, 1995.
Makie, T., Miyazaki, M., Kobayashi, S., Yamanaka, T., Kinukawa, N., Hanada, E., and Nose, Y. A simple method for calculating the financial balance of a hospital based on proportional dividing. J.Med.Sys. 26:105–112, 2002.
Annual Report on the Promotion of Science and Technology 2001, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, 14 screens. [Available from: URL; http://wwwwp.mext. go.jp/ekg2001/index.html]
Annual Report on the Budget Changes and the Status of Applications and Selections, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. [Available from: URL; http//www.jsps.go.jp/e-grants/grants05/html]
Hargrove, W. W., Hoffman, F. M., and Sterling, T., The do-it-yourself supercomputer. Sci.Am. 285(2):72–79, 2001.
Enthoven, A., On the ideal market structure for third-party purchasing of health care. Soc.Sci.Med. 39:1413–1424, 1994.
Gold, M. R., Hurley, R., Lake, T., Ensor, T., and Berenson, R., Anational survey of the arrangements managed care plans make with physicians. N.Engl.J.Med. 333:1678–1683, 1995.
Hillman, A. L., Financial incentives for physicians in HMOs. N.Engl.J.Med. 317:1743–1748, 1987.
Levinson, W., Gorawara-Bhat, R., Dueck, R., Egener, B., Kao, A., Kerr, C., Lo, B., Perry, D., Pollitz, K., Reifsteck, S., Stein, T., Santa, J., and Kemp-White, M. Resolving disagreements in the patient- physician relationship: Tools for improving communication in managed care. JAMA 282:1477–1483, 1999.
Annual Report on Composition of the General Account Budget for FY2002, Ministry of Finance Japan. [Available from: URL; http://www.mof.go.jp/english/budget/pamphlet/cjfc.htm]
Garfield, E., Citation analysis as a tool in journal evaluation. Science 178:471–479, 1972.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Makie, T. Applying a Medical Budget System to Biostatistics Clinics. Journal of Medical Systems 28, 469–474 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JOMS.0000041173.56016.f1
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JOMS.0000041173.56016.f1