Assessment of the Impact of Digital Health Technologies on Patient Recruitment and Engagement in Clinical Trials in India
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Abstract
Covid 19 pandemic has led to adoption of Digital health technologies in the Indian clinical trial sector which has led to breakthrough in the entire industry particularly in patient recruitment and engagement. The study delves into the impact of digital technologies on recruitment rates and ongoing patient engagement. The study uses a mixed method approach with both qualitative interviews and qualitative survey. Survey was conducted among 94 clinical trial coordinators (n=94). Interview was conducted for 6 professionals in the clinical trial sector. The study uses a combination of pragmatism and interpretivism philosophy for research methodology. 80 % of the respondents reports that the integration of the digital health technology has significantly improved the patient recruitment rates. It was also noted that m Health applications, EDC are the most leveraged tools in the Indian clinical trial industry. It was also found out that the majority of clinical trial professionals are using digital tools for day-to-day clinical trial activities. It was also evident from the data that even though DHT can overcome geographical and socio-economic barriers the complete potential of this technology platform has not yet been explored. The initial cost in investment hinders the sponsors from further investment in DHT. Moreover, the responsibilities of the technology vendors have not reached the mark, creating tensions in product running. However, looking forward to the future, the technology platform appears to be promising. CRO has increased their focus on the advancement of the tech platforms using AI and machine learning. Thus, the evolution of digital health in this sector us expected to bring mo