Contributed Commentary by Andrea Valente, ClinOne 

September 16, 2022 | There are three main reasons technology projects fail: The first is the technology itself has functionality, security, or usability issues. The second is if implementation drags on too long and requirements shift, leaving the customer and the provider unhappy. And the third might be the biggest challenge to overcome, especially in our industry – users don’t want it. 

Although we’re seeing an increasing trend of site networks and academic research centers insourcing technology solutions themselves, typically a sponsor or CRO will select a suite of products that patients, caregivers, and sites are intended to use. But unless they’re offered an Adaptive Experience that lets them choose how they want to participate at every step of the trial, they aren’t given a choice about using the technology. 

Keeping your technology top of mind is critically important for the solution to succeed. When it’s time to do a trial activity, people shouldn’t even have to think about how to do it. They should be able to just pull out their device. Getting to that point should be the ultimate common goal shared by every technology provider, sponsor, and CRO working together. That’s the beauty of an Adaptive Experience. Here are a few ways to get it done… 

1. Treat participants as customers. All too often, participants are asked (told) to use solutions without anyone explaining why. Instead, act if you’re selling something to them as a consumer. If you’re implementing eConsent, tell them how it will help them understand the study and how it reduces error of using the wrong form. You can also tell them why a tool helps the study at large, for example the reliability of eCOA data means the study needs fewer patients and will shorten timelines, bringing drugs to market to people who need them faster. These are people who want to contribute their experiences to help others dealing with the same indication. They will understand and appreciate being told why it’s important to use the technology, and be more likely to comply.  

2. Train, retrain, repeat. Participants are busy. They might simply forget how or why or when to use a certain solution (or that it exists at all). While this is true for all participants, it’s even more essential for sites who are the gateway to patients and caregivers, and have high turnover during trials. Nothing in our industry fails faster than a technology product that sites don’t want to use or don’t know how to use. As providers, it’s our responsibility to develop technology that has an optimized UX and is fast, reliable, and responsive. Those are table stakes. After that, we share the responsibility to ensure participants know how to get the most out of it. It’s essential for sustained success.  

3. Report and remind. Even as we build trusted relationships with an Adaptive Experience, we remain the experts on the technology itself. Our regular governance meetings should reflect that by focusing on the metrics that matter most, including usage rates and participant feedback. When we identify low-compliance sites or patients, it’s important to contact them early to address the issue proactively – before it becomes a problem for your trial. 

Let’s communicate our value to trial participants by meeting them where they are, every day.  

Andrea Valente is CEO of ClinOne, a provider of Adaptive Experiences to connect, inform, and empower clinical trial participants. She is a transformational leader with 20+ experience in life sciences technology product development, delivery operations, customer loyalty, and M&A strategy. Previously Andrea was COO at Medable. Also previously she was VP of Pandemic Response Systems at Oracle. Email Andrea at avalente@clinone.com.