Pharmaceutical industry research and cost savings in community-acquired pneumonia.
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 patients enrolled in research studies.


METHODS
Matched case-control study of patients enrolled into inpatient community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) pharmaceutical research protocols.


METHODS
Case patients were enrolled into a CAP pharmaceutical research trial. Control patients were obtained from a prospective cohort study of CAP. Cases were matched to controls on the basis of age, sex, pneumonia 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 patients 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).


CONCLUSIONS
Enrollment in a pharmaceutical research protocol results in significant cost savings in patients admitted to the hospital with CAP and may lead to earlier hospital discharge.
Kessler
Lori A
LA
Physicians Research Network, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare Foundation, Memphis, Tenn 38104, USA. kesslerl@methodisthealth.org
Waterer
Grant W
GW
Barca
Robin
R
Wunderink
Richard G
RG
D042462:4-Quinolones; D018806:APACHE; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic / Q000191:economics*; D017714:Community-Acquired Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000191:economics*; D017046:Cost Savings; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D004341:Drug Evaluation / Q000191:economics*; D004345:Drug Industry / Q000191:economics*; D017850:Economics, Pharmaceutical; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017721:Hospital Costs; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000191:economics*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013714:Tennessee
D042462:4-Quinolones; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents