Voicing Demands

Interactive voice response systems (IVRS) have been available for many years to help clinical trial sponsors improve the efficiency and accuracy of patient enrolment, randomisation, drug inventory management and trial data collection. Yet despite the demonstrated benefits of IVRS, only about 30 per cent of clinical trials conducted today are making use of this technology, or the more recently introduced interactive web-based response systems (IWRS), to manage these mission-critical functions (IVRS will refer to both IVR and IWR for the remainder of this article). Given the intense competition and rising trial costs in the bio/pharmaceutical industry, it is more important than ever for trial sponss to understand the advantages of IVRS and leverage this technology to control costs, manage risk and streamline clinical trial processes.

One of the key trial functions for which IVRS helps reduce both cost and risk is drug supply inventory management. With the increasingly global scope of clinical trials and the high cost of many complex new drugs entering development, the ability to efficiently manage the supply chain is vital to the success of most clinical trials. By proactively managing drug supplies through an IVRS, sponsors create a seamless supply chain, allowing stakeholders in the clinical trial process to track and manage critical drug supply inventory throughout the lifecycle of a study. Utilising this technology to enable just-in-time (JIT) inventory deliveries and to integrate sophisticated drug supply forecasting techniques, sponsors can reduce costly drug supply overproduction and overstocking; decrease the risk and expense associated with expired inventory; and prevent drug supply shortfalls that could jeopardise a trial.