Digitally managed clinical trials will accelerate results and reduce costs

Digitally managed clinical trials have the potential to accelerate results report and reduce costs but workflow questions and regulatory questions remain. In many facets of our lives digital data collection has improved services, eliminated errors, and reduced waste in time and resources. Think about the ticketing and check-in process at airports ten years ago vs. today: when airlines put the information in our hands we were able to do the check-in, seat selection, and other work for them. Plus, we were happy to do it. Also consider ATMs, online banking, and retail banking for how we are able to move money, get cash, and get loans by providing data ourselves and get immediate services. When we think about the medical industry, though, very little of the kind of automation created by self-service digital data collection exists. While we can see some patient portals and self-service triage apps appearing in limited uses, large scale use seems very far away. One specific area that digital data collection can, potentially, literally save lives is in clinical research. The use of digital collection tools, primarily mobile devices, in clinical studies is nascent but growing. Evidence indicates that these tools have the potential to significantly improve the quality of research outcomes and reduce the costs associated with such research, but there are still questions about how exactly these tools will work and some of the issues surrounding electronic data collection. To help answe...
Source: The Healthcare IT Guy - Category: Information Technology Authors: Tags: Clinical Trials Digital Data Collection Opinion Source Type: blogs