Tools such as MS HealthVault and Google Health allow patients to store and organise their health information. Linking clinical trial practitioners to this data allows for informed decisions to be made about patients participating in studies.
OmniComm is aiming to facilitate this linking by connecting its TrialMaster electronic data capture (EDC) system to MS HealthVault. With this in place health records can be easily transferred to a clinical trial centre to help the practitioner set up to study.
This extends to uploading data from home. Patients connected to HealthVault can input information from devices such as blood glucose monitors, blood pressure cuffs and pedometers to give clinical trial practitioners real-time information. Patient diaries are another possibility.
OmniComm’s connection to HealthVault also allows data to flow the other way. Select information from a clinical trial can be shared by practitioners to help patients make informed decisions.
This is at the heart of the thinking behind HealthVault. The system “was designed to help consumers play a more active role in their health and wellness by giving them control of their health information”, explained David Cerino, general manager of consumer health solutions group at MS.
Extending this to include clinical trial practitioners increases the value of the data. Randy Smith, chief technology officer at OmniComm, believes the connection will help companies improve “data management and quality assurance”.
These benefits will now be made available to OmniComm’s clients. In the fourth quarter of the 2009 calendar year OmniComm announced three more trials were using its TrialMaster EDC.
Furthermore, three more companies were added to its contract research organisations (CRO) preferred programme and Kendle added TrialMaster to its suite of eClinical systems.