You may not be thinking about software when you’re in the early stages of crafting a new research strategy. Early design choices you make in a Clinical Research Platform can greatly affect your speed of research and ultimately achieve compliance throughout regulatory reviews.
Moreover, these decisions will impact your research flexibility for future growth and ultimately your ability to publish high-quality clinical research for top journals and clinical trials. Consider the following aspects in light of your strategy.
Clinical Data Automation Results in Speed
It seems amazing that in this day and age Chief Science Officers are still working late into the night to manually load survey results into Excel, but that is the sad situation for far too many professionals. And the problem goes deeper than just manual entry, which is obviously time-consuming and prone to error.
Consider technologies or systems that integrate the entire data collection process and automate data capture where it does not exist. Wearables, surveys, EMR records, monitors, pumps, and proxy data such as weather ensure completeness. Validation rules and algorithms engineered into the process automates data validation and ensures accuracy. Data management protocols for storage, access, and monitoring address the regulatory requirements for this endeavor. One study found that such structured Data Collection resulted in a 10x reduction in the amount of errors in the data for a large EMR-based study.*
At IPC Global, we use modern manufacturing techniques to load, process, and produce quality data for research. JIT techniques supply the most current and often accurate data possible to the study. Data networking techniques automatically interconnect disparate tables into a modern data model. Reusable data components enable multiple studies to simultaneously use data records. The ROI based on automation is measurable in terms of time, money, and satisfaction.
Design Like a Data Engineer
Principal Investigators and their team have thought through their research plan -- scoping, designing, and garnering the resources whereby they will set out on this venture. Traditional tools and techniques are laid out for the team and likely, a roadmap is written out. Due to resource constraints, the research team often relies on eclectic technologies and their team’s experience.
To mitigate the many risks inherent in research, consider basic training of engineering techniques and some modern tools in your planning phase.
Data process techniques can eliminate manual intervention and common delays in acquiring the required records.
Data quality techniques will check the data automatically when engineered into the process.
Data governance can ensure that data lineage and dictionaries are documented, which in turn ensures impeccable peer review findings.
Experienced, Engaging, and Effective are characteristics of the engineers at IPC Global. Consider augmenting your team with proven professionals that will raise the game of each member of your research team. Your clinical research is about to experience a major breakthrough. We can help.
Develop a Methodology for Assuring Data Quality
Learning and discovery is often drowned out by disruption. The methods used to capture study results can be cumbersome. Collaboration is wrought with organizational friction that includes dependencies outside of the research team and limited feedback from stakeholders.
Establishing a flexible, open research platform designed for a modern data assurance methodology offers new and measurable benefits to the research process. The first benefit is a lifecycle that interconnects resources and stakeholders from research ideas to results. The second benefit is transparency, whereby each one of the research artifacts is made visible and actionable.
Another benefit is accountability to your research team and stakeholders to remain focused on results. And, perhaps most importantly, an effective data assurance methodlogy ensures that you can sustainably and repeatedly produce high quality research results.
It’s never too soon to start
Building a legacy of success involves the ability to discern and adapt well. By thinking long term about your research platform, you can optimize your research development efforts today and accelerate publications in the future.
The right automation platform can meet your initial needs and be expanded for your future growth, helping you avoid a costly replacement at a later date. All you need is a design mindset that prioritizes integrated, standardized platforms and a desire to create a foundation for the future growth of your research strategy.
