Providing Specialised and Compliant Nursing Care to Ensure 100% Trial Participation
Ensuring home health visits are completed successfully by creating a seamless continuation of research care outside of the primary study site.
The Challenge
Our client, a biotech company focused on developing transformational therapies to resolve or mitigate the effects of emerging infectious diseases, had developed a trial to study a new therapy for COVID-19.
The client had asked us to serve as an extension to the research site, by providing health care and conducting study visits directly within the patient’s home following hospital discharge.
There are innate challenges in working with this patient population, including severity, variability and transmissibility of the disease, which made conducting and completing the trial even more complex.
The COVID-19 pandemic presents disease management and operational challenges while also highlighting the prioritised concern for the safety of patients, families, and their healthcare providers.
Additionally, in some instances, the protocol required our nurses to be available with as little as one day’s notice following hospital discharge. As hospital discharge dates are often unpredictable, this scenario created logistical challenges for our team to navigate.
The Solution
Working closely with the client, we were able to provide research nurses trained specifically on the trial protocol to create a seamless continuation of research care outside of the primary study site.
We supplied trained and specialised nurses to provide care, complete assessments, draw and process lab work and ship samples to multiple labs directly from the patient’s home. Our nurses were also trained to accurately complete crucial study documentation for the site and client.
The concept of utilising home health care in research has historically seen slow adoption, however, the challenges of a global pandemic highlighted the need for urgent and creative solutions that go beyond the standard operating procedures we have come to know in clinical research.
We were able to create a bridge between the patient’s home and the research site and provide care in each patient’s home safely and at their convenience, while also maintaining strict standards of quality research.
The Outcome
Research visits and associated crucial data points were successfully performed in the home setting, informing the overall trial data set and ultimately contributing to the pursuit for FDA approval.
Through our partnership, and creating a path for the continuation of research care in the patient’s home, our client was able to:
- Decrease the dropout rate
- Prevent the loss of crucial data points
- Increase patient safety and monitoring
- Set the stage for a successful clinical trial leading to the pursuit of FDA authorisation
Patients and family members also had peace of mind knowing they could continue to receive trustworthy health care in their homes, lowering stress and the cost of travel to and from the hospital clinics. Additionally, by conducting these visits off-site we were able to effectively decrease the burden on overstretched hospital staff and lower COVID-19 exposure rates to the public.
Want to find out more about our patient retention services?
We’re on a mission to truly put patients first in clinical research. Through our personalised patient-focused services and digital technologies, we support patients at each stage of the clinical journey.
Our approach to patient health drastically reduces patient drop-out rates and prevents disruption to your clinical trial, getting products to market faster.