Medidata has granted CROs and trial sites access to its “patient insights” program and study design systems.
The idea is that contract research organisations (CROs) can work with Medidata researchers to develop protocols and “patient-facing” solutions to improve clinical trial experiences and expedite development and delivery timelines.
Patient feedback is an untapped resource according to Medidata’s vice president of patient engagement Alicia Staley, who told us the program “was created to address a gap in understanding the patient perspective in clinical trials.
“The patient perspective has not been utilized effectively to improve the clinical trial experience,” she said, telling us the aim is “to provide a structured way to work with patients, trial participants, and caregivers to deliver empathetic technical solutions.
“Designing trial offerings in collaboration with the patient perspective allows for more supportive, comprehensive, and efficient solutions.”
Software development
The program uses a “patient insights board” of experts to improve the patient experience Staley said.
“As part of the Patient Insights program, the team contributes to the full software development life cycle for myMedidata and other Patient Cloud applications,” she said, explaining the board provides patient feedback that is used to “shape the product roadmap and future enhancements and functionality.”
The programme will be part of Medidata’s professional services offering to sponsors, clinical trial sites, and CROs.
Improved access
The decision to open the program to sponsors and CROs is part of Medidata’s wider effort to improve patient access to clinical trials, both site based and decentralized.
Staley told us the program “is not limited to decentralized trials, however, we are opening up access to this program to ultimately make clinical trials an option for more people, including those historically left behind by clinical trials.”
The move follows just weeks after Medidata partnered with Parexel to improve patient access to remote studies.
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