Who we are

HCA Healthcare Research Institute (HRI) is the multispecialty clinical research arm of HCA Healthcare that is focused on advancing therapies for patients through our affiliated network of providers and care sites.

As part of a learning health system, we are unlocking insights into real-world data and clinical studies that lead to scientific breakthroughs and transform patient care.

HRI is connected to HCA Healthcare’s oncology research organization, Sarah Cannon Research Institute, which has been focused on community-based cancer research for more than 25 years. Together, we ensure that patients have convenient access to the latest treatment options close to home.

Across the HCA Healthcare network, HRI supports the following areas of patient-centered research:

  • Cardiovascular
  • Neuroscience
  • Robotics
  • Orthopedics and spine
  • Women’s and children’s
  • COVID-19 and other infectious diseases

HRI also conducts diagnostic testing studies and large-scale trials for a variety of specialties.

Over the last decade, we have provided research support and infrastructure to more than 20 sites of care and conducted more than 500 industry-sponsored trials.

See HCA Healthcare’s Impact Report for more.

What we offer

As a connector between providers, pharmaceutical and biotech companies, we offer a centralized service support model to activate clinical research needs.

HRI’s expertise includes program development, clinical trial pipeline development, regulatory affairs, quality assurance, contracts and budgets, site management, patient recruitment and marketing support. By integrating these capabilities into our organization, HRI is an effective liaison between the physician and sponsor, ensuring quick start-up timelines, successful enrollment and accurate data reporting.

These operational services provide additional value to participating HCA Healthcare facilities and physicians:

  • Improvement to research pipeline: quality and volume
  • Decreased start-up timelines, and overhead
  • Increased efficiencies through technology automation
  • Expanded subject matter expertise and physician engagement

Clinical trial research

  • Protocol development
  • Sponsor liaison
  • Study feasibility and cost analysis
  • Site placement
  • Clinical Coordinator resource management
  • Enrollment tracking
  • Study finance management

Benefits of our centralized research services

HRI serves as a valuable partner and liaison between research study sponsors (such as pharmaceutical, biotech and other research partners) and our network of sites. Our centralized offerings include:

  • Study start-up — one point of contact for service management
    • Assistance with site selection
    • Budget development and finalization
    • Clinical trial agreements — negotiation/execution
    • Institutional Review Board (IRB) submissions
  • Clinical oversight — quality assurance, physician leadership and clinical operations staff
  • Marketing — dedicated patient recruitment professionals