Clinical Study Software That Will Transform Clinical Trials
In order to be successful in the medical arena, you must pay attention to the latest and greatest technologies that are currently being used by the medical industry. Choosing the right clinical study software for your particular situation is critical, and can even determine if you get approved for the clinical trial at all! If you are planning to take part in any new or upcoming clinical trials, there are a few key things that you should keep in mind.
How Can Clinical Study Software Help Improve Clinical Trials?
The pharmaceutical industry is slow to adopt new methods and emerging computer software solutions to streamline clinical trial operations. Its traditional focus has always been on getting new products to market as quickly as possible. Clinical record management systems, spreadsheets, patient recall lists, and medical data mining are all ways that have been tried and tested over time but have not yielded any concrete results. Clinical trial software should be considered the next logical step in a company’s foray into the clinical record management realm.
One of the primary reasons for this paucity of clinical trial software in use is that it is difficult to understand the clinical trial procedure and then put together an efficient record management system. The difficulty arises from the fact that different institutions have different methodologies for recording patient information. Some use electronic medical records, while others rely on paper-based systems. Electronic medical records can be incomplete due to patient migration, incomplete patient consent, incomplete case tracking and other issues. Paper-based systems are subject to data corruption and errors, whereas an integrated clinical study automation software system guarantees the integrity and accuracy of the information.
Integrated clinical study software offers multiple benefits over traditional clinical trial management alternatives. Researchers no longer need to manually enter patient demographics, select which trials to enroll and assign study protocol. Integrated clinical study software also ensures that researchers can access participant data with minimal delays. A clinical study software can be integrated with a Clinical Validation Platform (CVP), which enables researchers to validate clinical trial protocols in real-time. Allocation of resources is made based on agreed parameters, minimizing the risk of human error and facilitating a smooth flow of data through all stages of the study.
Implementing a clinical study software requires considerable upfront investments to purchase the needed hardware and software. Hardware needs to include servers and PCs, laptops for installation and training, and a network for the transfer of data between the hardware and the clinical trial management systems. The cost of installing a clinical study software depends on factors such as the size of the database and the number of user accesses.
Another consideration for deciding on the clinical trial software system is data capture. Ideally, researchers should conduct a comprehensive data capture strategy to collect and organize all types of participant information. Most importantly, data capture ensures compliance with legal requirements such as the FDA’s Medication Advertising Programs (MAPs) and the EFCO External Data Capture Policy. A good data capture strategy minimizes the time needed to generate compliance documents and expedites the clinical trial process and allows researchers to quickly identify important data from clinical trials.
There are several cloud-based clinical study software solutions available to researchers and administrators. Many vendors provide a suite of solutions for managing clinical trials, including data capture, data maintenance, billing, and communications. Some cloud-based solutions include additional features such as pre and post-trial reviews, customized sets of databases, and patient recall systems. While not all cloud-based solutions are directly integrated with clinical trial management systems, they can greatly speed the process by automating tasks that would otherwise be tedious and time-consuming. For this reason, cloud solutions can dramatically improve the efficiency of the clinical trials process and minimize unexpected risks and expenses.
Final Words
Finally, the internet can often be a valuable resource in keeping up with the latest trends and developments in the clinical trials field. Online forums and blogs will often give you an inside look at the most important advances in the science of drug development. While they may not give you a complete overview, understanding how the various trends are affecting the various technologies can help you make decisions that are best for you within your company and overall business strategy. Implementing these trends can help you stay ahead of the competition and ultimately drive your company’s value chain forward.
