While clinical trials are still reliant on the paper-based data entry methods and processes, there are a lot of technologies that have emerged to enhance the clinical trial efficiency. The commonly used methods entail clinical researchers accumulating data through paper case report forms. This data is often duplicated and filed locally with the copies shared with the CRO (Central Research Office) for transcription done by the administrators into electronic data. The processes to verify and validate data is then commenced, with the queries directed back to the research centre for further clarification and amendment.
These conventional clinical trial procedures and methods also bring in challenges such as increasing costs and complex regulations. The clinical research firms usually find it daunting to address these challenges as they further lead to futile measures to monitor trial processes and issues with recruiting subjects for trials. In addition, the lack of record management and reporting tools hinders effective management of massive volumes of patient data for regulatory purposes. These challenges have resulted in time lags, continuous re-work for the healthcare organizations, and operational inaccuracies.
In order to address these challenges, digitization is considered to be a potential solution to tackle the challenges and bring about the much required clinical process enhancements. Today, digitalization is at the front of clinical education. The increasing complexity of trials, the reoccurrence of the subject enrolment challenges, the demand for easier access to systematized scientific data, the need for optimized budgeting, monitoring and compiling of data simply highlights how essential the integration of multi-user technology in clinical research is. The inbuilt logic behind futuristic software developments significantly transforms how researchers, monitors, sponsors, and other medical practitioners anticipate and execute their projects. This is why opting for and deploying the right software development methodology becomes imperative in the first place when developing sustainable clinical trial systems.
The conventional clinical trial procedures need adequate resources and time for data cleaning, monitoring, and reporting to the respective regulatory authorities. This involves a substantial risk of human error along with additional cost overheads when executing these processes.
Clinical trials management system requires a cohesive approach that can provide clarity over trial costs, aid to adhere to a schedule, and eliminate regulatory risks. It is an important foundation for medical device and diagnostics clinical trials, effective clinical research, and successful development of a product.
Tackling clinical trial software management issues is a priority for life science organizations and clinical operations professionals. This is why industry experts have become concerned about the clinical management of data. With this in mind, businesses usually operationalize a clinical trial management system gradually.
Several organizations even decide to expand the capabilities of their clinical trial management system upon implementation. These organizations then associate with clinical trial software development firms to update clinical trials and integrate the data across multiple systems, namely, electronic patient registry system, EHR platform with patient charting software, and other EHR services. Healthcare organizations have mostly benefitted from the cloud-based clinical trials management systems.
However, the highly structured life science arena has made clinical research and management of data a daunting task to accomplish. At the same time, implementing the clinical trial management system is hindered by siloed data, business-specific limitations, uncoordinated systems, and non-standardized processes. Thus, to harness the power of digital technologies in a clinical environment, the clinical researchers and industry experts must work in harmony.
Digital technologies can aid healthcare businesses to create a better value proposition by implementing tactics that driver patient value and achieving substantial advances in the study methods that conventional methodologies cannot deliver.
Effective Management of Data via Digitization
An integrated, digitized system can be leveraged to efficiently manage data and to lessen human errors. For instance, the clinical trial data can be incorporated into a modernized software, and automated quality checks can be run on the clinical trial data on a periodic basis. By operationalizing these quality checks in the clinical trial, the stakeholders can gauge and monitor the site performance, the number of subjects enrolled in a particular clinical trial, and any protocol anomalies.
Streamlining Collection of Clinical Data
A lot of clinical trials take place at an international level, resulting in substantial data creation, gathering, and management. Using a digitized system allows sponsors to manage the massive data volumes in a methodical, organized, and meaningful way. The implementation of a clinical trial management system enables to streamline and index data in an effective and scalable manner. In addition, it fosters quick retrieval of clinical data and faster processing of massive data volumes to produce important reports.
Enhancing Quality Control
A digital clinical trial management system facilitates structured data recording. The software records the inclusion and exclusion standards defined by the protocol plus the regulatory data requirements. It further allows tracking data and flag irregularities, thus considerably eliminating the need for human intervention to ensure optimum data quality.
Final Takeaway
Embracing digital technologies has become a necessity with the ever changing clinical trial methods and FDA regulations that need healthcare businesses to record, store, manage, and facilitate easier access to clinical data at every stage of the process.
The prime goal of a clinical trial management system is to simplify the arduous and time-sensitive procedures. A clinical trial management system offers valuable insights, which aid medical professionals to spot possible clinical research possible issues early on. Moreover, it enables healthcare professionals to track progress and weigh possibilities to be able to make more informed business decisions. What are your views on leveraging digitization for clinical trial management and research? Share it with us using the comments area below.
Noman Shaikh
