Harmonizing Site And Sponsor Platforms To Accelerate Study Startup And Monitoring

Tech overload is among the greatest challenges sites have when they take on new clinical trials. The average clinical research center has to manage multiple platforms daily, an expectation made much harder by labor shortages.

But for many sites, it’s not just sponsor-provided tools they use. Large institutions often invest in their own tech stacks to make the everyday juggling of protocols and patient care more efficient. The tricky part comes when those sites try to integrate their technologies with those of sponsors. Conflict abounds, timelines get delayed and launches postponed when teams, tools and workflows are incompatible.

Now more than ever, stakeholders need harmony among their disparate systems — and that starts with the right organizational mindset: a culture of connectivity, if you will. Solutions alone can’t solve these frictions and organizations need to think more broadly, said Vishal Janani, Director of Product Management & Strategy, Life Sciences Products at Cognizant.

“You need pharma companies, sites and technology providers to come to the table and ensure that the whole ecosystem works in unison, not just the technologies,” he said. “When you approach program management, governance and contracting in a standardized way, you can start to enable clinical operations transformation.”

How can life sciences companies support this culture of connectivity? Here’s what experts recommend: