5 Steps for More Patient Centricity

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the digitalization of healthcare in Germany. In addition to projects such as the “Corona-Warn-App” long-planned measures have been implemented in practice. This applies to the electronic health record (EHR) and the electronic prescription (e-prescription). Furthermore, telemedicine, online appointment scheduling and online patient portals are also booming.

This shows that the future trend of patient centricity is gaining momentum: The needs of patients are increasingly taking center stage and are being specifically addressed by digital offerings. This is also the key to success for clinical trials: They depend on reaching as many patients as possible and motivating them to take part in the long term.

In the following, we will show you five steps to promote patient centricity in your trials and sustainably improve data quality.

What’s it about?

1) Introduce Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM)

2) Enhance trial accessibility with ePRO

3) Integrate eConsent

4) Focus on target group-oriented patient recruitment

5) Use Patient Journey Dashboards

1) Introduce Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM)

For many patients, the necessary close care by medical staff over the duration of a study represents a major obstacle. Advanced age, illness or an unfavorable place of residence make regular visits to a clinic or doctor’s office almost impossible. In addition, there is always an increased risk of infection in medical facilities. Here, the remote monitoring of patients offers opportunities that not only strengthen the willingness to participate, but also make study procedures easier and safer. In addition to flying study nurses, who carry out study coordination and data management in a decentralized setting and look after patients in their own homes, digital tools are also available.

For example, telemedicine has already established itself for the remote monitoring of diabetes patients. Health data is recorded by specific sensors and medical wearables (e.g., fitness trackers) and evaluated remotely by medical staff. Clinical trials have also made increasing use of remote monitoring methods such as televisits and remote screening since the pandemic. RPM is particularly important in studies involving infectious diseases or immunosuppressed target groups, so extreme caution is required to protect all patients.

2) Enhance trial accessibility with ePRO

Closely linked to remote patient monitoring is trial accessibility for all groups. Electronic Patient-Reported Outcomes (ePRO) are a key component in this context. Simply filling out all forms online, instead of sending them by mail or even having to travel to the study center each time, saves patients a huge amount of time with minimal effort. Studies have confirmed that ePRO solutions sustainably increase the willingness of study subjects to take part as well as their satisfaction.

However, the added value of an ePRO system depends largely on how well it has been designed for the particular application. For example, the font size should be adjustable for an older or visually impaired target group. On the other hand, it is particularly helpful for younger and more tech-savvy participants if the survey questionnaires can be processed on different devices – be it on a smartphone, tablet or as a flexible browser application on a PC. In our case study with Pharmalog, we describe how Climedo’s ePRO solutions for efficient documentation of patient data prove themselves in practice.

Webinar Slide Deck: Patient Centricity in Clinical Research

In one of our previous webinars, we showed you how to optimise patient centricity in clinical research:

• Best practices for putting patient needs and expectations first
• The benefits you can achieve through patient-centric research practices
• New ideas together with other industry professionals

Get Slide Deck

3) Integrate eConsent

Remote Patient Monitoring and ePRO are closely linked to eConsent. Electronic patient information and consent offers not only administrative advantages. It also simplifies many things for study participants. For example, incorrect entries can be easily corrected by the patient themselves. In addition to functions for improved accessibility such as enlarged font, it is also possible to integrate explanatory video clips or charts to make procedures or processes easier to understand. Very large or international studies benefit particularly strongly from eConsent solutions. For example, digital information and consent systems proved their worth in Pfizer’s COVID vaccine trial. The responsible research institution confirmed that eConsent increased the safety of personnel and study participants. In addition, the trial benefited from improved communication and information quality, which strengthened patient satisfaction and engagement.

4) Focus on target group-oriented patient recruitment

Patient recruitment can make or break a clinical trial. In the face of increasingly specific target groups, the internet plays a crucial role in reaching suitable patients and recruiting them with  targeted approaches. The following three strategies can be used for this purpose:

1) Social media

2) Artificial Intelligence (AI)

3) Online platforms and apps

The analysis of big data using AI and the active exchange of information in social networks help to identify potentially interested patients. Many startups are also developing platforms where patients can register and then be put in contact with the relevant studies. The new EU Clinical Trials Information System (CTIS) (launch: January 31, 2022) will link databases and service providers and optimize patient recruitment internationally.

5) Use Patient Journey Dashboards

Once enough participants have been recruited, it is important to retain them in the trial and minimize dropout rates. Here, patient journey dashboards play an important role. These dashboards visually display the patient journey during a clinical trial by clearly listing all doctor and clinic visits as well as deadlines for evaluation forms and appointment reminders. The current processing status could also be displayed graphically, so that patients can see their progress in the course of the study and the results to date at a glance. A patient journey dashboard would also be a good way to integrate all the methods presented for more patient centricity into one user-friendly tool.

Conclusion: Patient centricity as a key element of decentralized studies.

As we have seen, improved patient centricity is only possible with the help of digital technologies. From remote patient monitoring, which not only simplifies processes but also protects those involved, to topics such as accessibility and eConsent, the implementation of decentralized trials via a digital infrastructure has already proven itself in practice many times. Successful recruitment with the help of social media, AI, and specific online offerings, as well as the strengthening of patient commitment by means of patient journey dashboards, also significantly increase the quality of study data.

Would you also like to motivate your patients to completely contribute to the success of your clinical trial and at the same time sustainably increase your data quality with digital tools? Simply arrange a non-binding software demo or contact us! We look forward to hearing from you and will be happy to help you digitalize your clinical data capture.