Patient Technology: Learn More

Patient Technology Solutions

The Patient Technology Toolkit and
Other Initiative Solutions

The Patient Technology Initiative aims to enable and accelerate the adoption of patient-facing digital technologies (PT) in clinical trials.  To encourage patient-centric collaboration in the space, the Patient Technology Initiative completed a first of its kind exercise in knowledge sharing. Leveraging TransCelerate’s membership, the initiative team collected member company experience implementing PT in clinical trials. The resulting insights and findings from that knowledge sharing exercise can be found in a team-authored white paper, “A Shared Perspective of Patient Technology Implementation in Clinical Trials.”

To further assist the goal to enable and accelerate the adoption of PT in clinical trials, the Patient Technology Toolkit was developed. This Toolkit was developed based on foundational research published in the Patient Technology white paper.

What problems are we trying to solve?

Though the potential benefits of using PT are widely discussed, they are not yet fully realized because:

  • A variety of regulatory, technical, cultural, and operational obstacles make it difficult for sponsors to progress novel PTs from pilot phase to scale
  • Lack of communication between stakeholders (both internal and external) limits learning over time, resulting in sub-optimal PT implementation
  • Risks and unknowns associated with PT may be overwhelming and study teams often struggle to navigate them

The Patient Technology Toolkit was designed to:

  • Help decision-makers and study teams approach PT implementation strategically with long-term goals and scalability in mind
  • Facilitate the flow of knowledge and feedback between internal and external clinical trial stakeholders with respect to PT
  • Help study teams identify, prevent or mitigate potential risks associated with PT adoption

How is the Toolkit Used?

Navigate Jim's use of the toolkit by clicking on the icons for each step.

Jim

Jim is interested in using a digital patient-facing technology in his oncology trial. He needs to understand:

  • General implementation considerations
  • Internal/External Stakeholder Management
  • Regulatory considerations
PT Vendor Popup

Jim uses the PT Vendor and Sponsor Engagement considerations to continually monitor, discuss and improve his and the vendor’s approach to implementing patient technology

Implementation
Framework
PT Discussion
Guide & Patient
Considerations
Share
Information

Jim first uses the Implementation Framework to help him understand the end-to-end process, develop strategy, identify potential risks, and plan for implementation.

He then uses the PT Discussion Guide to help engage with internal and external stakeholders, and Patient Considerations to ensure the patient perspective is appropriately taken into account during the implementation of the Patient Technology.

He consults the Regulatory Landscape Tool to understand the potential regulatory impact on his project.

Jim then returns to the Implementation Framework to ‘de-risk’ technologies and implementation strategies through rapid, iterative testing.

During the trial, Jim uses the PT Site Feedback Questionnaire to learn from sites how implementation could be improved in the future.

Jim debriefs his implementation experience with his internal team and vendor, sharing the current learnings across his organization and with the vendor to improve and scale future PT implementation.

Regulatory
Landscape
Tool
PT Site
Feedback
Questionnaire
Implementation
Framework
Implementation Framework

Jim first uses the Implementation Framework to help him understand the end-to-end process, develop strategy, identify potential risks, and plan for implementation.

PT Discussion Guide

He then uses the PT Discussion Guide to help engage with internal and external stakeholders, and Patient Considerations to ensure the patient perspective is appropriately taken into account during the implementation of the Patient Technology.

Regulatory Landscape Tool

He consults the Regulatory Landscape Tool to understand the potential regulatory impact on his project.

Implementation Framework

Jim then returns to the Implementation Framework to ‘de-risk’ technologies and implementation strategies through rapid, iterative testing.

PT Site Feedback Questionnaire

During the trial, Jim uses the PT Site Feedback Questionnaire to learn from sites how implementation could be improved in the future.

Share Information

Jim debriefs his implementation experience with his internal team and vendor, sharing the current learnings across his organization and with the vendor to improve and scale future PT implementation.

POV Paper
POV Paper
Implementation Framework
PT Discussion Guide
Patient Considerations
Regulatory Landscape Tool
PT Site Feedback Questionnaire
Vendor Engagement & Vendor-Influenced Tools
POV Paper

In our white paper, the PT Initiative describes the potential for patient-facing digital technologies (also called “Patient Technology”) to serve a variety of functions in clinical trials, such as capturing clinical endpoints, engaging patients, and facilitating remote study conduct. However, these technologies are not yet accepted as mainstream research tools.

To understand the barriers and facilitators affecting PT adoption, the TransCelerate Patient Technology Initiative conducted a series of surveys, interviews, and focus groups with approximately 600 subject matter experts (SMEs), including pharmaceutical company representatives, clinical trial investigators, and clinical trial participants. We identified several challenges that were common across the industry and outlined several recommendations to address them.

Download now—Accelerating Adoption of Patient-Facing Technologies in Clinical Trials: A Pharmaceutical Industry Perspective on Opportunities and Challenges

Implementation Framework

The Implementation Framework outlines a possible approach to Patient Technology implementation that encourages a mindset of strategic thinking, rapid learning, and patient-centric design. It can be used by study or strategy teams to:

  • Get started or move forward with PT implementation 
  • Incorporate an iterative, rapid-learning approach to PT
  • Consider patient and site perspectives during program design
  • Enable PT programs to build toward a company’s unique strategic vision
  • Mitigate common risks associated with PT implementation

For additional information, see our Implementation Framework FAQs.

Please share your feedback and experience here to help us make future improvements.

PT Discussion Guide

The Discussion Guide provides a list of core questions to consider during the implementation of PT in clinical trials. It enables users who are new to PT to identify risks, ask the right questions, and engage relevant stakeholders early in the PT evaluation and implementation​ process. The guide covers considerations related to:

  • Budget & Resourcing
  • Feasibility & Quality
  • Legal & Regulatory
  • Process & Strategy
  • Scalability & Support
  • Site Impact
  • Technology & Infrastructure

The Discussion Guide can be accessed as a standalone tool or as an integrated supplement to the Implementation Framework.

Please share your feedback and experience here to help us make future improvements.

Patient Considerations

Patient Considerations are a list of core questions and considerations to think about during the implementation of PT in clinical trials. It was developed by asking a diverse set of patients what they want sponsors to think about when deciding to implement patient-facing digital technology. Patient Considerations enables study teams to think critically about how their decisions will impact patients. The document covers considerations related to the topics of:

  • Patient Benefits
  • Patient Burden
  • Patient Compliance
  • Patient Consent and Comprehension
  • Patient Experience
  • Patient Safety
  • Patient Willingness to Participate
  • Privacy
  • Technology Maintenance
  • Technology Support
  • User Experience Design
Regulatory Landscape Tool

The Regulatory Landscape Tool provides an overview of US and EU Health Authority regulation and guidance related to digital technologies and their use in clinical trials. It covers:

  • Medical device classification and associated requirements
  • Related regulations and guidance pertaining to clinical trial conduct
  • Pathways for obtaining Health Authority feedback
  • Policies and initiatives that might reflect or impact Health Authority positions on the use of digital technologies

For additional information, see our Regulatory Landscape Tool FAQs.

PT Site Feedback Questionnaire

The PT Site Feedback Questionnaire captures actionable feedback on sites’ experiences with patient-facing technology and sites’ impressions of patient experience using technology over the course of a clinical trial. This structured feedback tool can help:

  • Identify and mitigate potential issues as the study progresses
  • Inform future study design based on user feedback
  • Accelerate adoption of the same or similar patient-facing technology(ies)

For additional information, see our Sponsor User Guide.

Please share your feedback and experience here to help us make future improvements.

Vendor Engagement & Vendor-Influenced Tools

Using Vendor Perspectives to Implement Patient Technology in Clinical Trials
An engaging and insightful infographic describing key findings from surveys and interviews with patient technology vendors. Includes findings related to industry challenges and methods to improve vendor and sponsor relationships.

Vendor & Sponsor Engagement Considerations
The Vendor & Sponsor Engagement Considerations are a list of core questions by topic to think about during and after the implementation of PT with a vendor in clinical trials. The considerations were developed with vendor input and are designed to assist the facilitation of more routine two-way feedback discussions on the deployment of PT. The topics and ideas in the document can help enable open discussion environments between parties where learnings can be shared, documented and leveraged for future studies.

Please share your feedback and experience here to help us make future improvements