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Advancing research to strengthen patient care
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By Michelle Rowe, Vice President of Research, HCA Healthcare
At HCA Healthcare, research is one of the ways we advance our mission to care for and improve human life.
Every year, care teams across our network deliver care through more than 44 million patient encounters. That experience creates an opportunity — and a responsibility — to learn. By pairing real-world clinical experience with strong data infrastructure, thoughtful study design and trusted partnerships, we’re able to examine important clinical questions and apply what we learn to improve care.
In many cases, the breadth of our network allows us to study questions that would be difficult for a single hospital or small group of hospitals to answer on their own. Patterns can be identified more quickly, insights can be developed with greater rigor, and when evidence supports change, improvements can be implemented consistently across our hospitals and sites of care.
This combination of scale, learning, collaboration and investment in our clinicians and researchers is what allows research to strengthen the systems that support patient care — not just within our organization, but in ways that can contribute to healthcare more broadly.
How we approach research
Our research efforts are grounded in four core strengths that guide how we advance care:
Learning that leads to better care
We operate as a learning healthcare system, continually examining how care is delivered and where it can be improved. The diversity and volume of care across our network allow us to identify trends, evaluate interventions and build on insights over time.
This approach has contributed to nationally recognized initiatives and peer-reviewed research, including REDUCE MRSA, ABATE, INSPIRE, 39 Weeks and Vitamin K.
Related article: How the HCA Healthcare Research Institute is moving medicine forward through clinical trials and research
Partnerships that expand expertise
Collaboration is central to our research model. We work alongside academic institutions, public health organizations, payers and industry partners to bring complementary expertise to complex clinical challenges.
Examples include:
- Partnership with the March of Dimes supporting 39 Weeks.
- INSPIRE-II, conducted with the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute.
- Ongoing collaboration with Humana linking clinical and claims data to better understand how to reduce mortality risk following hospitalization for sepsis.
- Transforming patient safety through an AI-enabled learning system that informs enhancements to clinical decision making, drive action and scales improvement.
These partnerships help ensure research is both rigorous and relevant to real-world care.
Scale that enables action
Generating evidence is only part of the work. Applying it consistently is equally important.
With 190 hospitals and thousands of sites of care, we are able to implement evidence-based improvements in a coordinated way — helping patients benefit from research findings as they emerge. We also share our findings broadly so that lessons learned can extend beyond our own facilities.
Investments that fuel our people and capability
Our research enterprise is strengthened by the physicians, nurses, residents and colleagues who lead and participate in this work. Through training, graduate medical education (GME) and opportunities for scholarly activity, we are building the next generation of clinician-researchers and advancing a culture of inquiry across our organization.
The breadth of our research
Research at HCA Healthcare spans clinical trials, data-driven studies and scholarly activity across multiple disciplines.
Clinical trials and innovation
Through HCA Healthcare’s Research Institute, we partner with industry to evaluate emerging therapies and technologies in real-world clinical environments.
- 531 active trials, including 110 new trials initiated in 2025.
- More than 4,000 patients enrolled in 2025, with approximately 15,000 clinical trial visits across the enterprise.
Explore clinical trials in action below to see how HCA Healthcare is helping advance cardiovascular research.
Graduate medical education and scholarly activity
Our commitment to research extends to physician training.
- More than 5,600 residents across 15 divisions and more than 355 programs.
- In 2025, residents produced more than 5,400 scholarly works, including original research, presentations and case reports.
Nursing research
- Hosted our inaugural Nursing Research Day in 2025.
- Published a nursing-focused edition of the HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine.
- Launched EMBArK-1, an enterprise-wide study examining early mobility practices, enrolling more than 1,200 participants across 26 sites in just over four weeks.
Related article: Nurses at HCA Healthcare advance safer care through research
Trauma research
- Six manuscripts and six scientific abstracts accepted for publication in 2024–2025, including presentations at leading national surgical and trauma conferences.
- Multi-center research examining trauma activation criteria across 37 Level I and II trauma centers using data from nearly 217,000 trauma patients.
Clinical trials in action
Two recent cardiovascular studies illustrate how HCA Healthcare’s clinical research network can bring emerging technologies to patients in community-based settings and contribute to evidence that informs care.
CAPTURE-1: Evaluating stroke protection during TAVR
Led by: Michael Chenier, MD, structural heart interventional cardiologist and principal investigator, HCA Healthcare’s Mission Hospital
What was tested: CAPTURE-1 evaluated an investigational embolic protection system designed to capture and remove debris that can be dislodged during transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), with the goal of reducing stroke risk.
Who was involved: Mission Hospital completed the first 10 cases in the trial’s first-in-human phase, followed by five cases at HCA Healthcare’s TriStar Centennial Medical Center.
What the study found: During the first-in-human phase, the device was successfully deployed in all 15 patients, with no device-related complications, transient ischemic attacks or strokes reported.
Why it matters: The trial demonstrates how HCA Healthcare can help evaluate emerging technologies designed to make established treatments safer for patients.
What’s next: Phase II is expected to expand to select hospitals nationwide, including additional HCA Healthcare hospitals.
CHAMPION-AF: Contributing to a landmark atrial fibrillation trial
Led by: Saibal Kar, MD, co-principal investigator and presenting author, HCA Healthcare’s Los Robles Regional Medical Center
What was tested: CHAMPION-AF examined whether left atrial appendage closure could provide an alternative to long-term blood thinner therapy for patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation.
Who was involved: The international randomized trial enrolled 3,000 patients across 141 sites in 16 countries. Nine HCA Healthcare hospitals participated, contributing approximately 6% of total enrollment. Dr. Kar presented the findings at the 2026 American College of Cardiology Scientific Sessions.
What the study found: At three years, left atrial appendage closure was noninferior to blood thinner therapy for the study’s primary composite endpoint and resulted in fewer nonprocedural bleeding events.
Why it matters: The findings provide additional evidence for physicians and patients considering different approaches to stroke prevention.
What’s next: Researchers will continue following patients for five years to evaluate longer-term outcomes.
Related article: Expert Voices: HCA Healthcare physician shares how pulsed field ablation is transforming atrial fibrillation care
Continuing the work
Research is embedded in how we deliver care and how we improve it.
We are grateful for the physicians, nurses, residents and colleagues who contribute to this work every day. By continuing to study what works, partner thoughtfully and apply what we learn, we aim to keep strengthening care for our patients — and contribute insights that may benefit patients far beyond our own communities.
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About HCA Healthcare
HCA Healthcare, one of the nation's leading providers of healthcare services, is comprised of 189 hospitals and more than 2,600 ambulatory sites of care, including surgery centers, freestanding emergency rooms, urgent care centers and physician clinics, in 19 states and the United Kingdom. Our approximately 320,000 colleagues are connected by a single purpose — to give patients healthier tomorrows.
As an enterprise, we recognize the significant responsibility we have as a leading healthcare provider within each of the communities we serve, as well as the opportunity we have to improve the lives of the patients for whom we are entrusted to care. Through the compassion, knowledge and skill of our caregivers, and our ability to leverage our scale and innovative capabilities, HCA Healthcare is in a unique position to play a leading role in the transformation of care.
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