Cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness in institutional pharmacy practice.

Patient care in health institutions has become more intensive, with greater use of drugs. Pharmacy departments have not been able to keep abreast of the demands placed on them by advances in clinical medicine. Medication errors occur too frequently and place the patient at risk. Use of the unit dose system would reduce these errors. Patient safety should be used as a measure of the effectiveness of pharmacy programs. Greater patient participation in the therapeutic process would improve the effectiveness of pharmacy services, as would therapeutic drug monitoring.