Kate Torchilin Ph.D. CEO Novaseek Research
New Clinical Data Network Technologies Improve Access to Patients
New technology is enabling biopharma researchers to reach groups of patients that traditionally have been hard to reach. Over 80% of all patients in the U.S. are treated in community healthcare settings, so these institutions hold the key to facilitating research with populations that are ethnically, racially, geographically, and socio-economically diverse. Federal agencies, including the FDA and NIH, have taken steps to encourage or mandate increased diversity in research and broader patient engagement in community healthcare settings.
On the industry side, R&D organizations are increasingly focused and interested in approaches that result in the right treatment for the right patient at the right time. Key to realizing such outcomes are broader population-based studies that further the understanding of “multi-omic” diversity and how that diversity influences healthcare outcomes. An engaged society with millions of individuals’ biologic information available to researchers will enable faster progress in medical developments.
Today, accessing such information is achievable. The widespread use of electronic medical records (EMRs) combined with improved data analytics can help researchers find and access patients, whether in large metropolitan hospitals, community hospitals, or other healthcare organizations that traditionally had limited research participation. Furthermore, the application of new technologies and methodologies can now automate the necessary collection of both clinical information and biospecimens from the right patient populations either directly or during a visit to a doctor. This approach creates a virtual, sustainable, and more efficient ecosystem on which to base precision medicine research.
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Kate Torchilin ([email protected]) is CEO at Novaseek Research.
