6 Lesser-Known IWRS Features for Clinical Trials
Interactive Web Response Systems (IWRS) run in the background of clinical trials, generally without attracting much attention. But your system may have more capabilities than you're aware of that can help your trial run smoothly.
Talk to your Interactive Response Technology (IRT) vendor to see exactly what your system can do for your trial, including these helpful features that are newer to IWR systems.
1. Temperature tracking for your drug shipment.
With many of today's IWR systems, you can track more information than ever about your drug shipment. On an app or on your computer, track your drug shipments and know if the temperature inside the truck has gotten outside of the recommended range of your study drug.
Your system can also let you know if the drug has been permanently damaged, or if it can be returned to your stock. Previous systems may only have let you know that there was a temperature change, without providing any details about it.
2. Drug pooling for multiple studies.
If you're running multiple trials that use the same study drug, several IRT vendors now offer an option for drug pooling so you can share the same inventory across multiple trials. In the past, an RTSM system would need separate databases for each trial. Bracket and 4G Clinical are two IRT companies that offer these features.
3. Simple integration of your IWRS with other technology.
Running a trial is easier for everyone when there's less paperwork and data reconciliation. IRT vendors recommend setting up your systems so that your electronic data capture (EDC) connects directly with your IWRS. It both saves time and helps maintain the integrity of your trial data.
"One of the best practices is to set it up so that in the EDC system, data that's transferred from the IRT is not editable, so a person can't go through the EDC system and make an edit to that data,” David Golston of Veracity Logic told Antidote. "By having them come into the IRT, and then re-pushing that data to the EDC, it eliminates the duplication of effort for the user to have to enter the information into the EDC and the IRT system, and it also eliminates the need for reconciliation between the two systems at the end of the study.”
If you're in the market for a new IRT system as well as another technology, such as for electronic clinical outcome assessments (eCOA) or EDC, consider finding a vendor that provides both so you'll know that your systems will be able to communicate. It's also important to ask potential vendors about all of your existing technologies and if their systems will connect with them, too.
4. Include more advanced study protocol algorithms.
Today's IRT systems are able to work with more complex study protocols than ever. They can also use algorithms to make predictions around drug ordering to reduce waste.
"For very small studies we can make [the IWR system] dynamic, rather than having [the study team] make a table of the order in which randomizations will occur, the system will use an algorithm to determine how to keep the study in balance between active and placebo medications,” Goldston said.
5. Faster setups for new study protocols.
One of the main IWRS features that have improved over years has been the time required to set up a trial's algorithm with the system. Today, some IRT companies, such as 4G Clinical, use Natural Language Processing (NLP) so new studies can be set up and updated quickly and easily. IWR systems are often now able to reuse protocols from previous trials in set-up, too, with adjustments made where needed, if the trials are similar enough. Rather than taking months, most IWRS setups now just take a few weeks.
6. Patient engagement tools.
With a 30% drop-out rate across clinical trials, patient retention is just as important as enrollment to your clinical trial. Many of today's IWR systems also include patient engagement tools to connect with patients after they've been randomized into your trial. Today, you can send patients newsletters with health information, text reminders about appointments, and set up automated phone calls all with your IWRS.
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