Once mainly performed at large teaching hospitals, clinical research has spread into community hospitals, private physician offices, and independent research companies. The growth of clinical research provides hospitals and doctors the necessary tools to provide their patients with the latest technology. The general public has become shoppers for medicine and largely due to the internet, the public has the ability to search for what they feel is the best and most recent treatment.
Being idle and waiting for the technology to get to you is no longer an option for today™s highly competitive market. The average length of time it takes for a drug to receive FDA approval is 10“12 years. If a consumer hears of the success of a trial drug, they will shop around until they find a hospital that has the drug available to them through clinical trials. Our hospital routinely receives phone calls from the public hoping for the opportunity to participate in the latest trials. If hospitals and doctors wish to remain competitive, participating in clinical research provides the means to do it. Participating in research sends the message to the public that we want to offer you the latest and greatest technology available. A successful trial device, drug or procedure could be used in a hospital years before it is released to other hospitals. This competitive edge draws patients from outside their normal territory and in many cases from outside their country.
There is a wide range of cardiovascular trials in which hospitals and physicians may participate. Trials include new devices such as cardiac and vascular stents, catheters, and distal protection devices. The pharmacology end offers dozens of trials that are underway looking for more effective drugs to treat and prevent cardiac disease. To review the trials available or search by company or type of trial, please visit, http://clinicaltrials.gov.
It is a goal of the Alliance of Cardiovascular Professionals (ACVP) to provide an opportunity to the cardiovascular world to share knowledge so that we may improve the health of people worldwide. If you are participating or would like to participate in clinical trials and would like to share ideas, obtain feedback or check what clinical trials others are participating in, the ACVP is designing a web page for you, to be online by January 1, 2008. The page will provide an area where you may list your current trials and a message board to discuss issues such as patient recruitment, new trials and patient concerns. To submit your list of trials or general questions or comments, please contact peggymcelgunn@ comcast.net or at the ACVP office: (804) 632-0078. Please include your contact information and facility name.
This addition to the ACVP will provide a great opportunity to strengthen the cardiovascular community and improve the care we provide to our patients. The web page will also provide additional means for the public to search for locations that provide the latest technology.

Share your knowledge. It™s a way to achieve immortality.
Dalai Lama

Richard Ney can be contacted at rney@triad.rr.com