Ongoing patient randomization: an innovation in medical care research.

Hospitals often have rotational assignment of patients to one of several similar provider care teams. The research potential of these arrangements has gone unnoticed. By changing to random assignment of patients and physicians to provider care teams (firms) this kind of organization can be used for sequential, randomized clinical trials which are ethical and efficient. The paper describes such arrangements at three different hospitals: Cleveland Metropolitan General Hospital, Brooke Army Medical Center, and University Hospitals of Cleveland. Associated methodologic issues are discussed. This is a new, more widely applicable method for medical care research.