Page 58 - LDR CLO

monetary value. U.S.- based medical research spending topped $136 billion in 2012, with a majority of this spent
by private industry. The traditional model for industry and government research investment was through universities. But academic research also has its drawbacks — a limited patient base, less contact with patients, and bureaucratic hurdles.
A shift toward hospital systems with the sophistication and talent to conduct research has accelerated in recent years. Today, 70 percent of U.S. medical research and trials funding goes to community hospitals, adding up to revenue that makes a solid di erence in the bottom
line. Communities and their patient base also bene t greatly from research. Medical advances do not come in a uniform tide. A treatment, a device, a new drug must rst be tested at a few select facilities in
an approval process that can last years. Patients with conditions that are unresponsive to current treatments will simply have to wait — if they can. However, those whose treating physicians are aligned with hospitals active in research and clinical trials have better options. They gain early access to treatments and medications that won’t be available to the general public for months or even years. This could be the di erence between a care option available just in time — or just too late.
Finally, building a health care system’s reputation
as a research center shapes a “virtuous circle”
of bene ts. Innovative physicians worldwide seek
to align with hospitals that let them pursue new
research opportunities. This faction of medical
innovators draws notice from other physicians, which further bolsters the system’s
reputation.
A similar e ect is seen among the funders and developers of drugs, devices and procedures. They demand
research facilities with the institutional knowledge, facilities, patient base, and support to conduct high-level research that meets rigid standards. The hospital system that proves its ability to deliver sound
“we proBaBlY have over 100 UNIQUE cANcER DRUgS AND ThERApIES that are not avaIlaBle
at anY other hoSpItal. now, we Can OffER ThESE OppORTUNITES TO MORE ThAN 100,000 MORE pATIENTS. It’S reallY exCItInG to Be aBle to do that.”
hELEN pEck
director, karmanos Cancer Institute Clinical trials office
McLaren HeaLtH Care
13