Costs of randomized controlled trials supported by electronic health records*
| Type of data extraction from EHR source; investigator | EHR source preexisting | Intervention integrated during routine care (no additional staff needed) | Total trial cost, US$ | No. of patients† | Cost per patient, US$ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Automatic | |||||
| Bereznicki et al.,18 2008 | Yes | Yes | 67 750†† | 1551 | 44 |
| Manual | |||||
| Green et al.,24 2013 | Yes | No | 2 800 000§ | 5000 | 560 |
| Piazza et al.,30 2013 | Unclear | No | 5 026 000¶ | 2513 | 2000 |
| Wolf et al.,34 2005 | Yes | Yes | 86 753** | 1978 | 44 |
| Unclear whether automatic or manual | |||||
| McCarren et al.,27 2013 | Yes | Yes | 69 300†† | 220 | 315 |
Note: EHR = electronic health record.
↵* In all trials, the EHR was used for recruitment (retrospective) and outcome assessment (all with EHR alone).
↵† As reported by authors for these costs data.
‡ Total received funding, including $42 157 for staff costs for the duration of the project, $6132 for a consultant programmer (for software development), $15 330 for pharmacy payments and $6132 for nonsalary costs such as printing, postage and travel.
↵§ Total received funding.
↵¶ Study costs were $2000 per patient and included costs of the trial start-up and close out.
↵** Total cost of the colorectal cancer screening promotional effort (intervention only).
↵†† Total received funding. “Most of the [working] time was donated.”