6614 Background: Although the majority of cancer patients are treated in community hospitals, resources to support community clinical trials are often limited. The Fox Chase Cancer Center Partners (FCCCP) initiative is a large academic and community based oncology program in the Delaware Valley. We hypothesized that a detailed clinical research assessment within the 18 main community cancer research programs of the FCCCP would result in improved clinical trial accrual. Methods: The FCCCP clinical team completed research assessments at 10 affiliated community hospitals during 2004–2006 to evaluate active trials, research nurses and data managers, and research barriers. Institutions were benchmarked for staffing, processes, outreach, and quality improvement. Results were presented to administration at each hospital and impact on research accrual recorded. Results: In 2004, 371 patients were treated on clinical trials at 18 FCCCP community research programs. The median number of data managers, research nurses, and open protocols per site was 0.7, 1.6 and 48 respectively. The most common perceived barriers to accrual by investigators and research staff were regulatory burden, time, and awareness. Recommendations included: improved tumor registry identification of clinical trial candidates, increased staffing, improved web-based outreach, and targeted research affiliations. With regulatory burden a significant research barrier, the following IRB streamlining processes were recommended: NCI Central IRB, for-profit IRBs, IRB reciprocity, and centralized health system IRBs. With implementation of recommendations, 10/18 IRBs have transferred to the NCI-Central IRB for phase III cooperative group studies. The median number of data managers and research nurses per site increased to 1.25 and 1.7 respectively. Although the median number of open trials per site remained at 48, accruals to clinical trials increased to 805, representing a 116% increase. Conclusions: Research assessments are feasible in a large academic-community hospital partnership program and result in best practice recommendations with increased clinical trial accrual. Larger scale implementation of research infrastructure in community oncology programs is warranted. No significant financial relationships to disclose.