An often under-valued aspect of Interactive Response Technology or Interactive Web Response Systems (IRT/IWRS) is their ad-hoc reporting capabilities. These systems contain large amounts of important clinical trial data, most of which is becoming increasingly valuable in the day-to-day decision-making of Clinical Trial Managers (CTMs) and Clinical Supply Managers (CSMs). By utilizing direct access to study data in an IRT/IWRS through comprehensive real-time ad-hoc reporting, CTMs and CSMs can make more informed decisions regarding patient treatment, study milestones, and drug-supply, and without the expensive costs of change orders for custom reports.
Consider a situation in which a quality issue with a manufacturing lot requires immediate notification to anyone that has been dosed - you need to know all subjects at each site that were dispensed drug units from a particular lot. Can your IRT/IWRS provide you with those answers today? Would you need to call someone to determine if it’s possible? And if so, how long it could take? Or cost?
When it comes to clinical trials, the data you need tomorrow may not be the data you think you need today. Ad-hoc reporting functionality in an IRT/IWRS allows users to build custom reports with their preferred arrangement of columns and filtering at any point throughout a trial, which alleviates the need to define all reports at the beginning.
Ensure you get the most out of your IRT/IWRS by prioritizing the following:
Ensure your IRT/IWRS ad-hoc reporting functionality is COMPREHENSIVE:
Understanding what data must be extractable from an IRT/IWRS throughout a clinical trial can be difficult to know up-front, so it is unlikely that pre-built reports will provide everything that a CTM/CSM may need. Real-Time Ad-Hoc reporting, when delivered in a comprehensive and user-friendly fashion, delivers the ability to answer previously un-anticipated questions and needs by providing direct access to ALL IRT/IWRS data for your study. Additionally, having direct immediate access to all data available in the IRT/IWRS can be a powerful decision-making tool.
It needs to be FLEXIBLE:
A CTM/CSM may realize that they need access to specific site, subject, lot, or drug data in their IRT/IWRS, but it is difficult to predict to what specificity they may need it throughout the trial. Ad-hoc reporting that allows the flexibility to aggregate across pools of data can help answer highly specific questions that may arise (e.g. if a CTM needed to know all drug units shipped from a specific depot that were dosed after a specific date, and the subjects they went to).
Reporting should use data in REAL-TIME:
Whenever possible, make decisions based on today’s facts, not yesterdays. In clinical trials and IRT/IWRS reports, up-to-date data is critical to understanding the current performance of a trial, as well as making important decisions such as how to manage site performance or when to expand to new regions. Ensuring that IRT/IWRS ad-hoc reporting functionality provides real-time data equips CTMs/CSMs to be confident that they have a clear picture of the current status across the study.
Lastly, IRT/IWRS Reporting should be USER-FRIENDLY:
No CTM/CSM should need to be a developer to understand how to gather the data they need from their IRT/IWRS. Features such as check boxes and drag-and-drop go a long way to empowering even the least tech-savvy study-team members to login and get the data they need from the system. And for those that have invested time into compiling a reusable report, the ability to store a unique chart for future use, and even share access with other team members, saves time over and over again throughout a trial.
In conclusion, for any CTM/CSM looking to more thoroughly understand performance or more proactively manage clinical trials, advanced ad-hoc reporting functionality allows you to count on your IRT/IWRS to provide comprehensive, accurate and up-to-date information.
You never know – well-designed reporting could even take away some of your busywork. What if that Excel file you’ve been building every week could simply be exported from the IRT/IWRS? Don’t underestimate the impact that advanced ad-hoc reporting could have on your day-to-day life.