OBJECTIVES: Insurance data records are valuable in conducting retrospective database studies to provide evidence-based information on effectiveness, economics, burden of illness, and market distributions. The objective of this research was to determine the value of other uses of insurance data to design, expedite enrollment, and add economic information to clinical/naturalistic trials, registries, chart reviews, and surveys. METHODS: Data source was a research database of medical claims from a large, geographically diverse U.S. health plan. Institutional review board (IRB) approval and signed patient consent forms including HIPAA language were obtained to conduct studies merging protected health information with insurance data. Claims information was used to recruit physicians (and subjects) interested in research (clinical/naturalistic trials, registries, surveys, and medical education interventions) based upon protocol-specific criteria (ICD-9 diagnoses, CPT codes, medications). Claims information was also used to supplement primary data (medical chart data, physician/patient-reported data) with utilization and economic data. Insurance data were merged with primary data to validate physician and patient supplied information and apply costs to clinical trial, chart, and survey data. RESULTS: An investigator database with over 25,000 U.S. and international physicians interested in research (by experience, specialty, research area) was developed. Based upon patient-specific criteria applied to insurance data, additional investigator sites have been used to enroll subjects in prospective studies. In one example, approximately 250 investigators expressed interest in conducting a 3000 patient naturalistic trial. For a separate study, over 800 subjects were recruited by physicians and surveyed regarding their asthma condition in a 3-month period. Several projects are ongoing in which patients’ health care costs from claims were merged with primary data or insurance claims data are used to ‘cost’ encounter data. CONCLUSIONS: Alternative use of insurance data to enhance study design, recruit investigators, increase subject enrollment, and supplement studies with economic information have been successful.