New Smartphone App Aims to Help Clinical Trial Recruitment Efforts

Funded by UB’s Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA), a team of researchers led by Peter L. Elkin, MD, created a cell phone app that allows patients to quickly and easily evaluate clinical trials, the time commitment involved and the location of the study nearest their home.

“A key goal of the CTSA grant is to improve patient access to medical innovations available in our region through clinical trials,” says Elkin, professor and chair of biomedical informatics.

The smartphone app is based on a participant-driven science system, PartSci, which is integrated with UB’s local clinical trial management system.

PartSci will access information on registered clinical trials in the region and send them to a database, with data about the trials expressed using natural language processing technology developed by Elkin and his colleagues at UB.

Patients can search for studies by typing in the name of their disorder or the kind of clinical trial they’re interested in.

“When patients find a study that interests them, they just push a button and their contact information is sent to the study coordinator who can contact them to begin recruitment,” Elkin says.

Data indicates that it takes 17 years, on average, for laboratory breakthroughs to reach patients. A big reason for the delay is the difficulty in recruiting patients into clinical trials to test new treatments or devices.

Only 5 to 10 percent of eligible adults enroll in such trials. Studies have found that only 5 percent of patients who show initial interest in a clinical trial will complete it.

“This app has the potential to significantly speed enrollment in clinical trials and the translation of basic research into new therapies to benefit our patients,” Elkin says.

“By allowing patients to essentially self-recruit, this app empowers individuals to more actively participate in improving their health and the health of their communities.”

Elkin, who sees patients at UBMD Internal Medicine, introduced the new app at the 2016 Informational Technology in Academic Medicine conference in Toronto, sponsored by the Association of American Medical Colleges.

A second app under development will allow clinicians to more easily recruit patients into their trials by allowing them to search for local trials that meet their patients’ needs. One touch will refer them to the appropriate study coordinator.

Co-investigators with Elkin are Daniel Schlegel, PhD, a postdoctoral associate, and Edwin Anand, MD, a clinical fellow, both in the Department of Biomedical Informatics.