Bioclinica established the eHealth App xChange in 2015 to create a collaborative environment for technology providers. According to the clinical trial solutions company, the xChange allows sponsors to “leverage the value of integration” within Bioclinica’s eHealth Cloud. Currently, 18 partners are in the eHealth App xChange.
New partner companies include mProve, Be the Partner, and DupCheck, which bring patient engagement, screening, and retention capabilities, among others.
Anne Zielinski, Vice President of Technology Alliances, eHealth Solutions, Bioclinica, told us the decision to expand the partner approach came down to “doing what’s right for sponsors and CROs.”
“Because each organization has its own unique needs and situations, and because no single company provides all of the technologies needed to conduct clinical research, our approach is to make a wide range of technologies accessible to them and which are easily interoperable,” she said.
An increasing number of stakeholders
Zielinski expects the shift in the biopharma industry to an increased number of stakeholders and differing priorities to continue.
“Whereas technologies once were created around the needs of one or a limited number of parties, today’s technologies are designed around the needs of multiple stakeholders, and we expect to see this continue,” she explained.
Additionally, Zielinski commented that beyond site users with multiple technologies, the company is also seeing an increase in patient-generated health data (PGHD) – which she said emphasizes the need for a positive user experience for patients and caregivers.
“As more real-world effectiveness studies are undertaken, the lines between clinical research and real-world healthcare will become more blurred, further expanding stakeholder involvement. So this circle of stakeholders continues to widen.”
Improving user experience
Bioclinica expects to bring a variety of new technologies into its App xChange. These technologies will be broadly applicable in clinical research while others will focus on specific therapeutic areas or trial types, according to Zielinski.
“The integrations of these technologies via our Cloud Transformation Gateway adds further value to sponsors and CROs, so that systems can interoperate in real time, creating the backbone for analysis and reporting.”
As an industry, Zielinski user experience design needs to be improved in order to get patients more involved in data reporting, as one example.
“Many current technologies don’t provide the kind of seamless experience patients are accustomed to in using their phones and tablets, so we need to step-up our game in the user experience area,” she explained. “And unlike patient-facing tools, creating an optimal user experience for site monitors, for example, differs, putting the emphasis on workflow optimization. So, as the number of stakeholders grows, technologies need to be responsive to their various needs.”