Clinical trial digital transformation is taking off. But with so many areas of potential opportunity, sponsors need to prioritize areas that will have maximum impact.
Payment solutions, for example, still significantly lag behind other sectors. Yet preference-led technologies have the flexibility to enhance patient and site experience alike.
Digital transformation
Clinical research is expensive and inefficient, plagued by long-standing problems such as slow participant recruitment and poor retention.
The recruitment process can take up to 30% of development timelines, and commonly delays study start by between one and six months. In addition, up to 40% of participants go on to drop out, draining study power and threatening the trial’s success.
However, as just about every other sector, from retail and takeaways to travel and insurance, has embraced technology-driven change wholeheartedly, drug development has been slow to adapt.
The reasons for this are sound. In our highly regulated, highly complex industry, patient safety, and data quality, come first. As such, untested, poorly evidenced solutions are simply not an option.
Rather than move fast and break things, we have had the opportunity to move cautiously and learn things – chief among them being that if other strictly regulated spaces, such as finance, can digitally transform, then so can we.
Consumer expectations
Yet digital transformation in adjacent sectors has provided evidence of what works, and what people want from their digital interactions. Time and time again, ease of use, choice, and flexibility have emerged as the watchwords, and this is clearly demonstrated in the huge variety of payment options that are now widely available.
Research in the healthcare space, for example, has shown that almost half of people would like to pay their bills by contactless credit or debit card, whereas more than a third, 37%, would prefer an online portal. Moreover, around 63% of patients would consider changing their provider if they were not satisfied with the available payment methods.
If sponsors want to make it as easy as possible for people to take part in research, they need to take note. Because if we extrapolate these findings to the clinical research arena, and it’s clear to see that current participant payment approaches are not fit for purpose. They are often slow, inflexible, and heavily reliant on prepaid cards which carry all manner of charges, including ATM and inactivity fees. This can cause financial concerns, emotional frustration, and make people feel underappreciated – all which can contribute to dropouts.
To help keep participants engaged, and on trial, payment and reimbursement systems should offer the same level of flexibility that people have come to expect in every other walk of life. That means being able to choose when they get paid, by raising their own requests, how they get paid, whether that’s by PayPal, bank transfer, or check, and easily track their incoming funds. Crucially, they should never incur the extraneous charges attached to prepaid cards.
Site focus
One thing that often gets lost in the digital transformation of research conversation is the impact on sites.
Luckily, greater patient choice in payments comes more efficiency for sites. Next-generation payment systems that remove the reliance on prepaid cards, for example, mean sites will no longer need to manage the storage, security, and distribution of physical card inventory. This significantly increases study start up also.
What’s more, some payment providers are working in lockstep with clinical trial management platform vendors to integrate their industry-leading features. It’s an approach that eradicates the need for multiple logins and duplicate data entry, freeing site staff up to concentrate on their primary task of engaging the patient and providing care.
Digital future
It is true that clinical research has a slower implementation rate than other areas in terms of digital transformation, but that is no bad thing. In our highly complex, science-driven industry, all and any change must be carefully planned, and evidence based.
As other sectors have moved full steam ahead with technological adoption, the clinical research ecosystem has had the opportunity to watch and learn. Sponsors now have the opportunity to put those learnings to work, prioritizing the areas and the solutions that are most likely to make the biggest impact and provide the best value.
Payments and reimbursements are one such area. Because giving people easy to use, flexible solutions have the potential to keep them engaged, ensure they feel appreciated – and reduce the costly dropouts that drain ROI.
Photo: JamesBrey, Getty Images
