Supernova Award Category
Next Generation Customer Experience
The Problem
Clinical researchers and clinical trial sponsors, such as pharmaceutical companies, require clinical trial participants (patients) to find answers for their research questions. Recruitment cost makes up 30% of total clinical trial budget due to staffing and general advertisement costs. 2 out of 3 sites fail to meet their recruitment goals which is a main cause for loss of funding.
The Solution
Automation of the recruitment process by leveraging clinical data to profile and connect patients to trials that are most relevant to them. eNre's platform anonymously connects to clinical data eliminating any HIPAA compliance challenges. It then searches and finds eligible patients to specific trials and delivers targeted content to those patient electronically. One of those patient touch points is the placement of tablet computers in exam rooms that replace clinical recruiters.
The results
Our platform integrates tablet computers in exam rooms that expose to patient trials opportunities while at the safe space of the doctor's office. We integrate with the clinical data for the healthcare organization so that patients are only offered opportunities based on their medical history. Additionally, all patients are recruited in a patient network (i.e. http://www.hioh.org/) so that they can be contacted directly out of the clinic setting for trial opportunities that match them through a social-network-like portal and mobile app. Our platform has shown to be 30 times more efficient than traditional models of recruitment.
Metrics
The most effective way to recruit patients in trials today is by employing qualified recruiters that directly talk to patients while at a doctor’s visit. Healthcare organizations have to search patients’ electronic records to find possible matches, then monitor the clinic schedules to see when those matches will be in for a clinical visit, and finally a recruiter comes to the clinic when an eligible patient is there to talk to them about the trial that fits their medical profile. In order to reach recruitment goals recruiters have to talk to 20 times the number of patients they really need which is very costly. After the implementation of our platform healthcare organizations can still electronically find eligible patients, but there is no need to maintain schedules of patients’ visits or send recruiters to the sites to talk to patients. Our platform engages the patient while in the exam room waiting for the doctor during a regular visit knowing exactly what trials they should be offered. Patients can answer a few questions and watch engaging videos that seek their interest to join. For high risk trials patients may not be able to be recruited electronically, but because we find the ones that are most likely to join, recruiters can focus on a much more engaged population. Thus, instead of talking to 1,000 patients to recruit 50, recruiters could be instead only talking to 200 patients to reach their recruitment goals.
The Technology
We have recruited patients in a registry and several trials with performance reaching 10 to 30 times better results than traditional approaches.
Disruptive Factor
Our platform looks only at de-identified patient information while at the same time delivering the right content to the right patient at the right setting (in exam rooms or directly through email, text or patient network portal). The data never leaves the healthcare organization and any responses from patients is liked back to their record anonymously. Digital recruitment in exam rooms is also a key disruptive factor that requires the right strategies to integrate technology in clinical settings while not disrupting the very complex and tight workflow of clinics. We bring new business to clinics through clinical trials without affecting their current business.
Shining Moment
Integrating technology into exam rooms while also connecting to patient data is difficult. We have refined our implementation processes and tech to increase the recruitment success rate. We disrupt the current model by recruiting as many patients as possible in a patient network and providing value to them similar to other social network platforms, except that ours has healthcare at its heart which means it is compliant, secure and relevant to patients and due to the link to medical data.