Corporate Excellence 2019

100 CORPORATE VISION / Global Excellence 2019 , CORPORATE VISION / Issue 9 2019 13 Patient safety and engagement are at the centre of everything that pharmaceutical companies and research sites alike are trying to achieve in clinical trials. By including technologically- innovative firmVirTrial, clinical trials can be conducted in a hybrid, decentralisedmodel by enabling some virtual visits and some in-person visits. Greatly reducing the travel and time commitments of patients, principal investigators can still gather necessary data without the geographical constraints. Discover what makes this firm so successful, as we recognise it as one of America’s most innovative virtual care platforms for clinical trials in 2019. Virtual Platform Offers Clinical Trial Opportunities Serving the phar- maceutical industry, VirTrial focuses on pharmaceutical spon- sors and CROs that incorporate virtual visits into their clinical trial protocols. Having created a telehealth platform that enables research sites to conduct visits remotely, the time and travel burden on patients is reduced greatly. Pharmaceutical companies benefit from these virtual visits with a reduced time to trial completion, and sites benefit from improved efficien- cy, both resulting in delivering life-saving medication to market much faster. Patients can often struggle with the high demands of travel during clinical trials. Innovative American-based firm VirTrial has created a digital platform that works for any research site and on any device. Expertly blending together video, text and email capabilities into one app, clinical trial sites can easily address spe- cific patient and study needs in a safe and secure environment. The telehealth platform does not remove the need for face-to- face appointments completely, however. VirTrial still encourages in-person visits when appropri- ate, such as during the initial visit for study eligibility, blood work, physical exam and dispending study medications. In-person vis- its are also key for downloading the app onto the patient’s device, instructing them on use whilst establishing rapport. Where the virtual visits truly shine is for appointments such as study well- ness check-ins and medication compliance checks, ensuring that they can be completed with safety and ease. VirTrial’s management team is made up of clinical research professionals who boast more than forty years’ experience col- lectively, working on more than 10,000 clinical research trials. The technology on which their digital telehealth platform is built is currently implemented in more than 1,700 hospitals, delivering 100,000 virtual visits every day, and has since been customised specifically for use in the clinical trials industry. The history and delivery of clini- cal research trials hasn’t evolved much in the last century, but VirTrial is leading the change in an era of digitalisation. More tele- health solutions are developing, and the clinical trials industry is taking notice. By including virtual visits within the traditional clinical trial process, the industry is work- ing to improve recruitment and engagement rates to get new medications into markets faster. A hybrid decentralised clinical trial model also results in less geographical limitations, higher participation rates, and a more diverse patient population, giving principal investigators more research data to work with. More recently, VirTrial has begun to deliver training for research sites to help them get up to speed on how to conduct hybrid decentralised clinical trials using their telehealth platform. Partnering with multiple industry associations, this innovative training is free of charge to members and the company aims to have 30,000 members and 9,000 sites sufficiently trained on how to maximise the potential of virtual trials. Company: VirTrial Contact: Kim Kundert, VP of Operations Website: www.virtrial.com Jul19688 Mark Hanley, CEO, VirTrial Jul19688