Clinical Trial Engagement Apps Leverage Social, Rewards, Predictive Analytics

First published on MedCityNews.com. Clinical trials cost drug companies a lot of money and can experience delays or even higher costs when patients drop out.

First published on MedCityNews.com. Clinical trials cost drug companies a lot of money and can experience delays or even higher costs when patients drop out.

A challenge sponsored by Eli Lilly, UBC, Enlight Biosciences and the Partnerships in Clinical Trials meeting asked developers to submit ideas for using mobile platforms to educate, engage and empower participants enrolled in clinical studies.

The entries were judged on the quality of the idea/vision, visual presentation, potential impact and patient value. The winning apps all had a few common features: medication reminders, two-way communication between patients and researchers, and the ability for researchers to push information to patients. But they also had some unique ideas.

The $7,500 grand prize went to an app called Reminderz aimed at retaining patients in clinical trials and collecting and managing data for the contract research organization. Trial participants can set up alerts, “check in” with the researchers by answering forced-choice questions and view reports summarizing their activity levels over the last seven days. Unique to this app, compared to other winners, is the ability for patients to search for other clinical trial participants who have chosen to make themselves available to connect and support others. It was designed by Harold Jonas, a mental health counselor in Delray Beach, Florida.

Runner up TrialsConnect‘s distinctive feature is an in-app rewards system. A flower on the main screen grows as patients go to clinical visits, take their medications and read articles shared by researchers. Another interesting feature allows participants to explore food or lodging options around the site of their clinical trials.

The popular choice vote went to Mosio, whose platform is built on communication via two-way text messaging. Its clinical trial app also includes predictive analytics to help researchers identify patients who may be losing interest in the study. Medidata got recognition as a large company for its app which gives clinical trial data back to the patient when it doesn’t affect the outcome of the trial, like blood glucose levels or lab information in the case of a diabetes patient.

See all of the entries here.