The strategic value of the concept of productivity as it may pertain to clinical trials, cost-of-illness studies and postmarketing research was the theme of a contributed workshop on economic methodology held at this year's 6th annual ISPOR meeting [Arlington, Virginia, US; May 2001]. The director of Outcomes, Research and Econometrics of the MEDSTAT Group, Inc., US, Dr Ronald Ozminkowski, argued on behalf of his associates that a greater consideration of outcomes, including productivity-related outcomes, would help to better serve the multiple stakeholders in healthcare in the US.1