The growth in the number of studies analyzing healthcare costs has been exponential. However, recently published data cast doubt about their applicability. We hypothesize that this situation may be, in part, due to the lack of timely, validated, standardized databases. Additionally, many of the rigorous procedures developed to assure veracity of clinical research data have not been consistently applied to the conduct of outcomes research. Similarly, doubts about the accuracy and timeliness of administrative information may hinder its application to the processes of clinical research. We suggest that through careful construction of a clinical financial database and judicious application of clinical research tools and practices, some of these barriers may be overcome. This workshop aims to: 1) Describe the Perspective Comparative Databasetm (PCD), Premier, Inc.’s standardized nationwide 150 center clinical financial dataset through: ? review of the methodology by which standard data elements are defined, normalized, mapped and validated ? review of the methodology by which standardized costs are validated 2) Describe PCDs efficacy in the research arena: ? provide examples of clinical outcomes improvement ? provide examples of application to clinical research in the arena of patient identification and protocol development ? provide examples of combination with clinical research tools in performance of pharmacoeconomic studies. 3) Suggest methods by which a combined PCD/clinical information database might allow for rapid acquisition and analysis of pharmacoeconomic data. This workshop is intended for industry professionals and non-industry researchers involved in applied pharmacoeconomics, decision support systems, and clinical research.