Decentralized Clinical Trials (DCT) Monthly Blog – January 2021

What’s Next?

In the aftermath of a turbulent 2020, in which the overall industry perception of the decentralized clinical trial (DCT) approach transitioned from being “promising but still largely experimental” to “a new-normal paradigm for the industry to adopt,” we have been considering “what’s next?”

No, we’re not talking about another release of a whole suite of additional technology tools unimagined just a few months ago… rather, we have been considering how to improve the sponsor experience, and that of sites and patients, which both begin with the design and quoting of a DCT. In the rush to accelerate the availability of new tools and technologies, we learned a lot about how these new elements need to be positioned and packaged to enable them to be assimilated into the front end of the trial process.

Because DCT design is focused around building a patient-centric experience and doesn’t follow the traditional templates, some sponsors – and sites – felt they were going back to the drawing board with each trial. For this reason, we have introduced a series of pre-packaged solutions that are configurable to the needs of each trial, while streamlining the front end during the design and planning stage. These solutions, combined with our enterprise delivery approach which seamlessly offers most services from a single vendor, provide efficient startup and coordinated service delivery. By incorporating stakeholder insights from a year of dynamic change, we are transforming the clinical trial experience for patients, sites and sponsors.

Our DCT solutions come in several tiered configurations, ranging from a focused eConsent/Televisit package all the way to a Transformational Solution package that adds things like eCOA and Mobile Clinical Services to the mix. By arranging the services in this way, we create a standard infrastructure without surprises to help you design each subsequent trial for consistency and convenience, without having to “reinvent the wheel” each time. Sites will benefit from the standardization as well, since the interactions, approaches and applications will be consistent from trial to trial. But keep in mind that standardized doesn’t mean inflexible: each package is configurable to the unique needs of your trials, and as your approach evolves, so does the implementation of the solution we deliver.

You’ll be hearing more about these solution packages that deliver patient-centric models over the coming weeks and months, but for now we invite you to attend our talk at the SCOPE symposium in early March. Robin Marcus, our head of DCT Market Development, will present a talk titled: “Configurable Solution Packages Streamline DCT Design and Implementation.” 

Stand by for a final date and time for the talk. We hope to – virtually – see you there!

To learn more about how we can help you build efficiencies into decentralized clinical trials, please visit our website.

You can also find additional DCT resources like case studies, white papers, scientific articles and more here.