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While a key step towards greater productivity and efficiency in clinical trials is to identify key integration points for eClinical solutions, it is important to maintain a development programme for individual eClinical systems. Better definition of the day-to-day challenges faced by the key stakeholders in any technology-enabled process is fundamental to understanding how such solutions can evolve, and therefore we should continue to ask: how can processes be improved and how can clinical teams and technologies better support and manage a clinical trial? Randomisation and trial supply management (RTSM) is a key component in unlocking the full potential of an integrated eClinical platform, but although it is a sophisticated solution now, it did not begin that way.
Interactive voice response (IVR) technology has been used in various industries such as financial management, airline ticket booking and paying utility bills. The earliest locatable reference for IVR in a clinical trial dates back to 1977, focusing solely on the randomisation functionality (1). Early experiences were often marred by the sparse availability of appropriate touch-tone telephones; in one study only 27 per cent of sites had access to them (2). An article published in 2002 reviewing literature on IVR studies shows that many of these early applications were used in the areas of patient monitoring and patient reported outcomes (3).
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