I love talking about clinical trials. I’ve spent the majority of my
career working in the marketing function at companies in the clinical
trials industry and, for as much change as I’ve seen over the years, one
thing remains constant – I love it. That’s why I jumped at the chance
to join the team at AiCure when the opportunity presented itself.
Before I get into the things that made my choice to join AiCure easy,
I want to tell a short story. I don’t look forward to going to doctors’
offices. What makes it bearable, though, are the opportunities to
connect with the staff there and maintain those relationships. I know
that the nurse at my allergist’s office, who has been giving me my
allergy shots for the last four years, has a daughter who plays soccer
in college. Every time I see her, we talk about our daughters, soccer,
and of course, clinical trials. She has used a variety of different
technologies when she sees patients in clinical trials and we discuss
the benefits as well as the pain points.
These visits allow me a personal look into how technology has been a
great enabler in clinical research. It also brings with it complexities
and increased burden in certain cases. To this end, the clinical
research technology landscape has developed a plethora of technologies
that tackle specific problems. For people like the nurse I mentioned
above, this means using different software and interfaces to enter
patient data or to glean insights. Managing so many different tools can
be difficult.
COVID-19 has forced the industry to accelerate its adoption of
technology and AI, however, the problems of the disparate technologies,
technology burden, and the ability to gain insights from this explosion
of data remain and in some ways are exacerbated.
Which brings me back to why I was so thrilled when I had the
opportunity to join AiCure. It really came down to three big reasons:
- Patient engagement and insights: AiCure enables the same level of engagement I love when I go into my allergist’s office but in a digital format. Site staff is empowered to know what is happening with their patients in real-time, in-between site visits. This leads to more meaningful clinic visits, as the data, and more importantly, the insights are readily available. In fact, in a recent survey conducted by AiCure, Site respondents indicated they were highly likely to recommend AiCure as it enables remote patient engagement and assessments. Out of a scale of 10, the respondents ranked AiCure as an 8 for likelihood to recommend.
- Leveraging technology to better serve patients’ needs and also capture better data – they go hand in hand: AiCure uses AI-powered, predictive analytics to enroll the right patients during the placebo lead-in period so that they are more likely to be adherence to the study protocol. AiCure also provides a holistic, real-time view of what is happening with a patient, from ensuring they take the right medication at the right time, to capturing objective, quantifiable assessments based on speech patterns, movement, and facial expressivity and lastly, AiCure enables electronic patient-reported outcomes. The technology enables sites to provide better care, remotely and in-person.
- This is a transformative time in history: Doctors and nurses are more important than ever to clinical research and this will enable them to be even more effective. COVID-19 is an opportunity for study teams to leverage this technology to provide better care and more accurate data going forward. This is a disruptive time that I truly believe will lead to better data collection and analysis and ultimately better care. With this technology, study teams can know what is happening with their patients in real-time and provide the support they need. For example, my allergist might already know how I felt after my allergy shot, both immediately after and a few hours later. This would allow them to have an appropriate plan of treatment ready for me the next time I go in, or they could reach out to me if she sees that I am having a mild reaction after I go home.
In today’s world, companies in the clinical trial space bear an increased responsibility to study teams and patients to provide this higher level of care. I look forward to being able to talk to my clinicians about the exciting innovations coming out of AiCure, such as the power of knowing what is happening with patients in real-time, providing care in-between visits, and being far more knowledgeable about a patient’s symptoms during the clinic visits. To learn more about AiCure, visit Aicure.com/learn.
