Pharmaceutical industry research and cost savings in XXXX .

@entity1 @entity497 @entity55
OBJECTIVE: To provide financial justification for continuing pharmaceutical research in an environment that has met with increasing resistance from insurance carriers to paying for the care of @entity1 enrolled in research studies. STUDY DESIGN: Matched case-control study of @entity1 enrolled into inpatient @entity497 ( @entity497 ) pharmaceutical research protocols. @entity1 AND METHODS: Case @entity1 were enrolled into a @entity497 pharmaceutical research trial. Control @entity1 were obtained from a prospective cohort study of @entity497 . Cases were matched to controls on the basis of age, sex, @entity55 severity index (PSI) grade, and comorbid illnesses as measured by the PSI and Acute Physiologic and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) scoring systems. Financial data were obtained from hospital billing records. RESULTS: Twenty-five cases were identified and matched to appropriate controls. There was no statistically significant difference in mean PSI and APACHE II scores between cases and controls. There was a significant reduction in the total charges for hospital care of @entity1 enrolled into a pharmaceutical industry trial ( 6267 vs  9979; P = .03). As expected, the most dramatic reduction was in pharmacy charges ( 642 vs  1797; P = .002), but there were trends toward lower charges in all cost subgroups. Interestingly, there was also a strong trend toward reduced length of hospital stay associated with enrollment in a pharmaceutical trial (4.5 vs 6.0 days; P = .06). CONCLUSION: Enrollment in a pharmaceutical research protocol results in significant cost savings in @entity1 admitted to the hospital with @entity497 and may lead to earlier hospital discharge.
