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Financial managers' costing expertise is needed in clinical trials
D A West1, E A Balas, T D West
1College of Business and Public Administration, Department of Health Management and Informatics, School of Medicine, University of Missouri-Columbia, USA.
Abstract:
In addition to providing comparable and verifiable evidence regarding outcomes, clinical trials could also serve as sources of accurate and replicable financial information. Trial reports that identify expenses associated with effective diagnostic and therapeutic interventions enable cost controls. Standardized cost calculations could help clinicians and administrators identify more efficient health care technologies. Unfortunately, relatively few published trials include economic analyses and when they do, data are incomplete. Based on analyses of 97 clinical trial reports, this article proposes a standard costing format. Health care financial managers have the costing expertise necessary to implement and interpret standardized cost calculations for clinical trials. With the active involvement of financial managers, a standard costing format for clinical trials can be achieved.