How A Clinical Research Care Option (CRCO) Can Increase Patient-Centricity
In the present times, when personalized medicine is the dominant trend patient centricity in clinical trials, research continues to grow at a rapid rate. Today, the patient wants; requirements and complete well-being have become the priority in clinical research and trials. Patient -centricity in clinical trials may require substantial investment in the clinical trial design but has a positive impact on recruitment and retention of participants in the trials and studies.
Application of Patient-Centricity To Clinical Trials
The clinical research organizations or CROs are responsible for designing a clinical trial can use some effective modifications to achieve patient-centricity.
A patient’s decision to participate in any clinical trial is based on financial, social and altruistic factors. Before enrolling in any clinical study patients try to learn about the disease, the drugs used locations of the trials and also the results obtained from similar trials.
Role of Internet
The Internet plays a big role in spreading this information to facilitate learning. So, the participation of a patient in a clinical study is a conscious and well-informed decision.
Conduct Trials After Identifying Locations of High Prevalence of Disease
For clinical trials involving rare diseases, it is crucial to find locations where the prevalence of the disease is highest. Therefore, it is prudent to set the clinical site based on this information.
Site Selection
Clinical coordinators mostly start the site-selection process by investigating the dedicated treatment facilities set up to meet the demands of the patient suffering from a common disease. This site could be a hospital or research facility so that the setting of clinical trial close by encourages patient participation in trials.
Making Use of Digital Technology
A clinical trial or study is based on patient participation and complete engagement. Patients are required to make frequent visits to the clinical trial site through the duration of the clinical study. These visits are for certain procedures used for observations such as monitoring blood pressure and more. Many times they need to visit to refill their medicines.
Poor Patient Retention
From the patient perspective, these visits are tedious and put pressure on patients as they are forced to make the visits. This can cause stress and overwhelm among the participants and result in poor patient retention. If the frequency of such visits is reduced than the clinical study becomes more patient-centric.
Home Visits
Another option is to offer home visits to help patients to continue participation in clinical trials. Home visits by nurses and trained professionals employed by the trial companies can conduct routine procedures such as blood collect and patient assessment.
As patient participation continues the study can be completed, which otherwise could get abandoned resulting in wasting of money and resources.
Self Report Measures
In the present times making use of electronic data, capturing devices can help patients to make self-report measures without any need to visit the clinical study site or hospital frequently.
However, they still have to visit the research site as these devices cannot capture all data involved in the study, but the number of visits can be reasonably reduced, and making the study highly patient-centric.
Empowering Patients
If the patient’s convenience is kept in mind while conducting any type of clinical study or research, it places the focus on personalized medicine that empowers the patient.
Patient Centric Drug Development
The primary objective of drug development is the well-being of the patient. If trials are conducted according to the convenience and requirement of the sponsor, it defeats this purpose.
Today, patient-centric drug development is becoming the norm as patients are well aware, informed and technology-driven is changing the nature of conducting clinical trials and research studies.
