Epic has launched a new EHR program in which they will be given an insight into clinical trials in the hopes of optimizing patient outcomes. The program is designed to work with healthcare providers, large scale pharmaceutical companies, and various manufacturers of healthcare devices to improve the recruitment process for trials and increase the level of individuals taking part in the trials from underrepresented backgrounds. Titled the ‘Life Sciences Program’, Epic will be looking to test the features which heavily features clinical trial matching. The organization hopes that individuals will be more optimally recruited at a higher frequency when the program is successfully implemented and, in turn, fasten the rate in which therapies are discovered. When a physician opts to sign up for the Life Sciences Program, they will automatically receive a Cosmos Database which is used to verify the validity of clinical trials that have been previously carried out. Additionally, Epic will look to expand the accessibility of trials by combating barriers to entry that are caused by insufficient staffing, and minimizing the rate of tasks deemed to be repetitive by the program.
At present, providers associated with Epic carry out approximately one hundred thousand research assessments, using nearly five million of their patients to do so. By utilizing the new program, it will become clearly when a patient is eligible for a clinical study. This will be done using information relating to point of care testing done by physicians to their various patients. A significant advantage to the successful implementation of the Life Sciences Program is the increased accuracy to the clinical trials carried out. If recruitment to the trials is more accurate, the results will likely follow suit.
The Life Sciences program is designed to create a seamless connection between participant patients, healthcare providers and research sponsors through the use of a single system,” Alan Hutchison, vice president at Epic, said in a recent press release concerning the new program. Hutchison also stated; “Unifying clinical research with care delivery and building a direct connection to study sponsors will help accelerate the development of new therapies by making studies more efficient, more accessible, and more effective.”
