Icon launches patient recruitment tool to improve sponsor visibility

27-Nov-2017 - Last updated on 27-Nov-2017 at 16:46 GMT

(Image: iStock/Jirsak)

Icon plc has launched a new digital solution aimed at increasing the efficiency and quality of patient eligibility assessments as the industry continues to struggle with clinical trial recruitment.

According to the Ireland-based contract research organization (CRO), the Firecrest Pre-Screen platform provides a more robust solution through which site personnel can identify patients potentially eligible for clinical trials.

The CRO acquired Firecrest Clinical, an Irish site performance and study management company, in 2011.

“Working with our customers over the past few years it became clear that we could leverage our Firecrest Site Portal to provide additional value-add solutions supporting the challenges of patient enrollment,” explained Mark Connolly, VP Firecrest at Icon Clinical Research Services.

“This minimizes the amount of different portals sites need to access for training, recruitment and engagement solutions,” he told Outsourcing-Pharma.com.

Icon is also testing Amazon's Echo Dot assistant in clinical trials as it looks to enhance the patient experience and boost enrollment numbers.

Improving sponsor visibility of patient access

Pre-screening activities are often completed using various desktop- or paper-based tools, Connolly said, explaining that this approach is difficult because it doesn't provide central management of the process.

However, Connolly said the Firecrest platform addresses this challenge and is able to improve sponsor visibility of site performance by providing "a consistent mechanism for pre-screening patients."

The platform aggregates data “to draw actionable insights into the key drivers of pre-screen success and failure,” he said. Additionally, sponsors are able to review the eligibility criteria during the pre-screening process in order to make decisions surrounding the study’s criteria at the “earliest possible opportunity.”

The platform also aims to benefit patients by reducing screening activity time.

“By correctly and consistently identifying the patients who should proceed to full screening we stand a better chance of ensuring the right patients for the trial thus reducing the risk of subsequent dropout,” added Connolly.