The LabCorp unit announced the formation of its “mobile health solutions” service this week, explaining that the idea is to provide sponsors with a means of certifying the accuracy and consistency of mobile devices and applications for use in clinical trials.
CEO Deborah Keller pointed to the rapid uptake of mobile devices by patients and said: “Mobile technology is changing the way patients interact with their healthcare providers, and clinical trials must adapt as well.”
“Covance has the expertise and scale to help our partners evaluate which apps and devices will be most effective, will generate the most consistent and reliable data and will be easy for patients to use.”
Research by the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development suggests use of electronic patient reported outcomes technology (ePRO) is rapidly increasing in the clinical trials sector.
According to the survey more than 60% of respondents said their companies began using ePRO in the past 5 years, while 11% have been using ePRO for more than 10 years.
This idea is supported by recent deals like Exco Intouch’s partnership with Oracle, which is focused on the development of an ePRO and EDC system for trials.
Mobile technologies are also used for other aspects of clinical trials. In 2011 for example PPD launched a patient recruitment app in a bid to reach out to potential study participants.