We've always thought of clinical data managers as members of what amounted to a quasi-religious order, like the Franciscans. Data managers serve as scientific priests, guiding wayward medical information back into the light, anointing and condemning clinical computer systems as appropriate. Then we got on the phone with Nagaraja Srivatsan, VP of the life science practice at…more...

In a major redesign of its flagship product for electronic data capture (EDC), Phase Forward has freshened up the user interface of one of the industry’s top packages. The changes are both cosmetic (no more red, green and yellow stoplight icons) and more structural. For fans of the stoplights, it's worth noting that some features of the…more...

Chicago-based but India-focused clinical trial management and site support organization Excel Life Sciences and Switzerland-based contract research organization (CRO) PFC Pharma Focus are launching PFC India, a full-service CRO specializing in clinical monitoring and data management services in India. The two will open an office for the new entity in New Delhi. PFC India will be a…more...

For a large fraction of the clinical trial community, clinical data standards are like 1,200-page Russian novels. People claim to read them but seldom do. For electronic data capture (EDC) supplier Nextrials, however, standards are competitive weapons to showcase its strengths. This does not mean that Nextrials is brandishing anything. The firm is too nice. And standards…more...

Let’s be as polite about this as possible. The American physician has not been keenly interested in using computers outside of a reimbursement context. Many doctors in the U.S. remain perplexed about whether computers in their exam rooms and offices are worth the investment. Some doctors feel electronic health record (EHR) systems cost them money and waste…more...

M. Denis Connaghan is the new CEO at etrials. He’s been on the job a bit more than a month, since mid-November, and had just returned from meetings with clients on the west coast when we rang him up for a chat. “I didn’t hear, ‘we need another product from you. We need another technology from you,‘“…more...

For years, we’ve been mocking it. There have been unkind remarks. Words like antique, prehistoric, pre-computer, Elizabethan. “Dickensian” is our favorite. We’re talking about ... paper. Then we found ourselves on the phone with a gentleman who makes a good argument for paper. “We provide immediate information for the sponsor or CRO. But we keep it very…more...

Is the contract research organization serious about owning technology? It’s not clear. A peek at the eight regular members of ACRO, the blue-chip Association of Contract Research Organizations, reveals that just two companies own industrial strength electronic data capture (EDC) solutions. The rest are choosing to partner with technology firms—or remain shy and bashful about the contents…more...