Newly Adopted Pandemic Approaches to Clinical Trial Management Are Here to Stay

The global COVID-19 pandemic caused major paradigm shifts in every-day life, with the healthcare industry forced to adapt to evolving health restrictions. Although enacted under pressure, a recent survey of clinical researchers discovered pandemic-related adaptations to clinical trial management have had a positive impact on clinical trials and are likely to be embraced moving forward. New clinical trial approaches were implemented by 84% of survey respondents, with the most common approaches being remote monitoring, video visits, phone visits, eConsent, and electronic health records. A quite considerable 82% of respondents felt these new approaches have had a positive impact on clinical trials overall. Those using new methods in clinical trials found their data to be more timely, higher quality, more frequent, and more robust. Furthermore, most respondents had high confidence in this additional data. Of those who implemented new clinical trial approaches during the pandemic, 97% felt they will continue using at least one of these new methods moving forward, demonstrating the staying power of these approaches in the post-pandemic world.

- Andrea B.