Survey: Patient Centricity, Digital Tools and Reducing Administrative Effort Are Top Drivers for Trial Success

Munich, Monday, November 28, 2022 – Climedo and Trialflow have published the results of their joint survey “The future of clinical trials – patient-centric, decentralized, digital?” which was conducted among trial sponsors and sites. The results show that respondents see the potential in digital technologies and patient centricity for improved clinical trial outcomes, but are still struggling with lack of personnel and patient recruitment.

The aim of the survey, which was conducted in the fall of 2022, was to assess to what extent decentralized and patient-centric elements were being used by trial sponsors and sites alike, which difficulties they face and what they foresee for trials in the future. A total of 46 respondents joined, 41% of them study sites, 26% CROs, 20% MedTech companies and 13% pharmaceutical companies. In the full analysis, there is a distinction between sponsors’ and sites’ specific answers, but for the purpose of this release, the majority of answers have been put together.

Status quo in clinical trials

• In terms of decentralized elements, the top tools being used were “ePRO” (43%), “Informational videos” (37%), “Wearables” (33%) and “Telemedicine” (33%)
• Ninety-five percent said that patient recruitment is most efficient “Directly with the doctor or study site” and only 17% named “Advertising by the sponsor”

Challenges

• Regarding the top challenges in trials, sites quoted “Lack of personnel” (63%), “Regulatory issues”  (53%) and “Delays” (42%) as their top issues, while sponsors named “Patient recruitment” (67%), “Site performance” (59%) and “High costs” (59%)
• In order to apply digital tools in a more beneficial way, respondents said that “More budget” (54%), “More personnel” (43%) and “Specific expertise” (41%) would be required

Outlook

• Looking at the future, respondents saw the greatest potential in “Electronic Document Management” (74%), “Telemedicine” (52%), “Digital interfaces between sites, vendors and sponsors” (50%)
• In the future, 89% plan to recruit patients “Directly with the doctor or study site”, 26% plan to use “Advertising via the sponsor” and 22% aim to use “Recruiting agencies”

Beliefs about digital tools and trial efficiency

• Eighty-one percent believe that reducing administrative effort for study sites leads to a faster trial conduct 
• Seventy-four percent believe that companies that care about patient centricity have a higher patient compliance
• Sixty-five percent believe that user-centric digital applications lead to happier study subjects
• Sixty-three percent believe that the targeted use of digital elements improves data quality and correct reporting 
• Almost half (46%) believe that using decentralized elements saves resources
• Thirty-nine percent agree that decentralized elements make patient recruitment easier

What sites expect from sponsors and vice versa

• Finally, sites were asked what they expected from sponsors. Eighty-four percent said “Constant and clear contact persons” and 74% said “Transparent and predictable timelines for site selection, initiation and launch”
• Conversely, sponsors were asked what they expected from sites. Here, 81% said “Reliable estimates of how many patients can be included by the site” and 33% named “More detailed specifications of requirements”.

“It’s encouraging to see that both sites and sponsors are already using a number of digital tools such as ePRO, wearables and Telemedicine in their trials” says Veronika Schweighart, Co-Founder and COO of Climedo. “Nevertheless, the fact that they are struggling with lack of personnel and patient recruitment, shows that the potential of digital technology isn’t yet being fully exploited. Automating and accelerating specific processes can save valuable resources and help to tap into new, diverse patient pools on a global level. After all, over 80% believe that reducing administrative work leads to faster trial conduct and 63% agree that using digital elements improves data quality and reporting. We are therefore happy to help sponsors leverage the use of digital solutions such as Climedo’s platform for more engaged patients, less burden for sites, and ultimately better trial outcomes.”

“Seeing that two thirds of the participants consider digital document management and 50% consider an interface between sites, vendors and sponsors as the most promising technologies of the future, shows me that we are pursuing the right agenda with Trialflow” comments Leona Turner, Co-Founder and CEO of Trialflow. “We will continue to work on reducing the administrative burden on sites and sponsors in the trial startup phase and beyond, in order to bring acceleration to clinical trials. But it is also  particularly interesting to see the difficulties that currently exist in the implementation of digital solutions. The fact that about half of the participants would need more staff, more budget and more expertise clearly shows us that we need to make our product even more intuitive and user-friendly so that the implementation can be as low-threshold as possible for all participants.”

The full survey results can be downloaded here.

About Climedo

Climedo offers a digital platform for hybrid clinical trials and observational studies. The easy-to-use, modular and secure data management software solution includes electronic data collection (EDC), ePRO, eCOA and telemedicine. It enables pharmaceutical and medical device companies to more efficiently validate their post-market medical innovations and capture real-world data in decentralized environments. This accelerates studies, saves costs, and improves data flow and quality while promoting innovative study designs. By seamlessly connecting all stakeholders (industry partners, study sites, physicians and patients) in a cloud-based system, Climedo is revolutionizing clinical research and making studies more accessible and patient-centric. Learn more: www.climedo.com.

About Trialflow

Trialflow improves sponsor, site and vendor collaboration in clinical trials to accelerate market approvals. The digital collaboration platform enables smooth planning and coordination during the study startup phase and creates a solid foundation for study execution.

On the way to such a fully comprehensive collaboration platform, Trialflow already offers two product services today. Trialflow brings sponsors and sites together. Data-driven matching processes are used to identify suitable partners for specific studies and then the sponsor selection process is supported by feasibility checks. In addition, Trialflow’s credit card solution enables efficient patient compensation by empowering sites to process this independently and rule-based. For less administrative work and more time on patients and faster market approval. Learn more: www.trialflow.io.