When you go home at night and talk to your friends and family about your day, do you want to talk about how you’re helping the world? Why you love your job?
If you’re reading this, I know you’re passionate about the work you’re doing and excited about the results.
That’s because we do something special.
Clinical research is a noble profession. We can bring real hope to those who may be in despair.
Yet, access to clinical trials isn’t always in reach, and real barriers can prevent some from getting to and from critical research appointments.
Since we at Greenphire brought the concept of payment automation to the masses more than 15 years ago, the industry has embraced the concept of patient centricity. That’s a good thing. Sponsors and CROs have recognized the critical importance of access for all, and the use of solutions to deliver an improved experience without increasing site burden.
At Greenphire, we welcome the continued growth of this category, for the greater good of patients, their families and study outcomes.
Solving the Right Problems
Pushing the envelope is the most important thing we, as a company, and our team as product innovation professionals can do. Every day we ask, “How do you solve problems in the best way possible?”
But what problems are we solving?
It’s critical that we don’t think of clinical trial participants as homogeneous. Just like snowflakes are all different, so are people. Each considers participating in a clinical trial for their own reasons and hopes but also with their own unique challenges – and that’s what we look to eliminate, especially as we aim to bring more individuals into research.
The problems we’re looking to solve can be vast, and vary by individual, geography, type of trial and more.
Nonetheless, there are certain fundamentals which can impede someone from participating in a clinical research study, including:
- Costs: We know many people, let alone clinical trial participants struggle financially. This is especially true now due to rising inflation making it harder for individuals to make ends meet.
- Logistics: CISCRP research shows that the travel to and from clinical trial appointments is a leading burden amongst clinical trial participants. This hardship is often cited as a top contributor to dropout.
- Lack of Communication: Clinical trials already suffer from lack of awareness amongst potential enrollees. However, once enrolled, often poor and impersonal communication can create a cold experience.
Often these challenges converge – compounding the impact and ultimately the decision to enroll and stay in a clinical trial. For example, 50% of those afflicted with rare diseases are sadly children. If a single mom, with other children was to consider a new Duschenne Muscular Dystrophy trial for her child, how often would she be able to take off work to take the son to lengthy and distant appointments? How would she be able to pay for gas, tolls, meals when not working? Who would watch her other children? The decision to offer the most cutting-edge treatment shouldn’t have to come at the expense of increased financial and logistical burden. One size certainly doesn’t fit all, and the solutions shouldn’t either.
Solving Problems, Improving Access, Driving Engagement
You can’t have a clinical trial without the heroes who make it run. It’s my mission to ensure that sponsors, CROs and sites are fully equipped with solutions that optimize clinical research and provide a better participant experience.
We focus on the top barriers that we know exist, and consistently innovate to remove them. Greenphire was built with this core concept – to remove non-medical obstacles from trial participation, and make it as easy as possible for sites to deliver these services.
Initially, we created a software solution to pay stipends and reimburse patients in clinical trials. As that solution grew in global adoption and satisfaction, we continued to ask questions – like what if patients don’t have funds to get to their initial visit? Can we pay them in advance? We collaborate with clients who are looking to remove patient spend from their trials, and evaluate the full patient journey. Some patients don’t have the means or reliable transportation to get to their initial visit. These factors have accounted for the expansion of our solutions – such as enabling prepayment, and offering personalized concierge patient services. The growth of our solutions to meet ever evolving clinical trial needs enables sponsors and CROs to execute their global patient convenience strategy with the utmost efficiency, scalability and transparency.
When Removing Global Clinical Trial Barriers Creates New Challenges
Navigating clinical trials can be complex – not just the science and protocol. Support programs such as the patient payment and logistics services Greenphire provides requires specialized expertise and oversight. Executing financial reimbursements across the globe triggers numerous regulations, banking laws and GDPR, to name a few.
Greenphire partners with clients to ensure that they have the documentation needed for IRBs as well as Ethics Committees, easing the burden of compliance.
In certain instances, we have also been involved in helping to influence legal statutes. For example, as many know, payments exceeding $600 to clinical trial participants in the US are taxable. Greenphire supports all efforts to shift the classification of stipends as income, similar to a lottery winner. We’ve provided our data to advocacy organizations and legislators to quantify the GAO impact of taxing stipends; in short, it’s not worth it, and does more to overburden already strained site staff and dissuade patients from enrolling.
On the other hand, in Europe, GDPR requires careful care of patient data. Greenphire has recognized these requirements and staffed in-region data warehouses, support call centers and one-on-one coordinators to provide localized patient and site services. In addition, MR-001 has created further data collection and protection obligations for French clinical trial participation, further complicating the roles and responsibilities for sponsors conducting global studies. However, Greenphire has documented the unintended negative impact this regulation has caused for the clinical trial industry, and is advocating for change.
Building for the Future
At Greenphire, we’re not just responding to the constant state of change in clinical trials—we’re directing it. Our commitment to innovation is driven by real-world experiences and needs. Take our Patient Experience Dataset, for example. We saw a need for better data as it relates to planning for the patient experience – taking into consideration all of the burdens and costs that participants face – across phases, therapeutic areas, countries, etc. Whether through advances in payment automation, personalized patient services or better data for planning, we continue to innovate to ensure that the experience evolves alongside the industry’s needs, creating better outcomes for all stakeholders involved and driving more successful clinical trials.
