The cost of research: a survey of participating sites in a nationwide registry.

Abstract

Much attention has been placed upon decreasing costs of clinical research. However, little has been studied about the effects on research completion. A survey was sent to all registry investigators and coordinators to determine the cost of enrollment in a national registry, whether sites had to supplement using their own funds, and whether the cost affected enrollment. Results indicate that a majority of sites supplemented enrollment with their own funding (88%) and diagnoses requiring a lot of time to enroll were avoided. This survey showed that reimbursement rates were well below the costs of enrollment.