Hybrid clinical trials, virtual trials, or decentralized trials are here to stay. Although vendors had proposed them for a long time, the pandemic propelled their popularity even further. The rise of the pandemic got more companies scrambling for the new Veristat clinical trial design.
Hybrid trials rely on digital technology and take the trial process to the patient’s comfort of their home. This means that most of the clinical trial planning is centered around the patient. Hybrid trials also reduce the burden of site visits for patients, easing trial participation challenges.
What are the features of a hybrid trial, and why are they important?
Amplified patient centricity
The core of hybrid trials is to make them convenient for patients. They are focused on the patient and customized towards the patient’s needs while reducing the burden to a minimum. Protocols in clinical trials have changed over the years giving the patients a choice between trips to the doctor or telehealth visits in the comfort of their homes, or a combination of the two. There is growing access to virtual study coordinators that will expand patient options and allow them to communicate with patients when desired or necessary. Patients can also easily access their data through the apps or the patient’s dashboards. This offers visibility into their state of health and wellness and the ability to monitor outcomes long after the trials are completed.
They reduce site burden
The hybrid model offers research sites new virtual components that save the patient and staff a lot of time. Also, you’ll notice an increase in the number of recruitments done during the clinical trials and the replacement of the less efficient advertising methods for the trials. The digital screening process and electronic consent have also reduced the site burden since patients no longer have to report to the research sites for these trials process. It has also led to increased use of secure video calls that allow on-site clinical site teams to avoid a lot of paperwork and focus their time and energy on visiting patients.
Improved data accuracy
A huge move to use of at-home data collection has propelled the development of digital clinical research devices that can easily be used at home. Additionally, an expanding library of instruments can be administered quickly and accurately in the comfort of the patient’s home.
Better real-world data
There is an increase in machine learning tools to analyze and aggregate data from different research fields. The growing ability of Artificial intelligence to probe patient data, including scans, labs, clinician notes, and other documentation all point to real-world data’s role in health innovation. The innovations will help recruit refined cohorts for specific diseases. It will also help recruit rare disease populations while creating a synthetic trial control arm. There will be a rigorous adherence to methodology and transparency to minimize bias while ensuring you collect accurate data for trials.
The pandemic helped accelerate the revolution of clinical trials leading to the adapting of hybrid clinical trial models. The benefits of this model today outweigh its complexities and costs since it increases the chances of a trial.
