Three-year trends in the costs of residency training in family medicine.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES A 3-year follow-up survey was performed to update and examine trends in the financial and operational benchmarking data for family medicine residency programs within the University of Washington Network. METHODS Using the standardized approach that had been used in 2000, data were systematically collected by standardized questionnaire, evaluated for quality and verified, and then analyzed. Updated data regarding revenues, expenses, faculty structures, productivity, and family medicine center staffing models are reported, as well as data on trends in each of these areas for the 3-year period. RESULTS Although revenues increased during this time, expenses increased relatively more, leading to an overall increase in the "cost per resident" among the Network programs. Particular factors leading to increased costs were salary expenses and the cost of malpractice insurance in these states. CONCLUSIONS The results of this study contribute to the establishment of normative data for budgeting and operational evaluation of family medicine programs and projections of cost variations over time.