Electronic patient-reported outcome systems are in high demand.  Over the past six months, there has been an unprecedented number of new devices for research.

Now there’s another one, due next week. At the 2008 annual meeting of the Drug Information Association (DIA), which holds its mega-event in Boston this year, PHT will announce support for a new Windows phone.

“Using this platform with our software will lower the cost of ownership,” notes PHT president and CEO Phil Lee. “It provides a very high resolution, it’s a larger screen, it has wifi capability and will elevate ease of use to another level.”

Built for Business

Lee didn’t mention Apple’s iPhone, which is the device from PHT rival assisTek, or invivodata’s large-screen device, which we wrote about here. But it’s clear there is a race to be able to visit a sponsor and proudly place more than one clinical-trial-specific device on a conference table.

HP iPaq 210

PHT chose a phone measuring 5.27 by 3 inches. It’s manufactured by HP and called the iPaq 210. Retail price: $430. The name signals its roots in HP’s Compaq acquisition, and the unit is designed to be attractive to government and business buyers who purchase it in quantity.

Two Platforms

The decision to use HP and Windows may have been wholly logical—after all, HP is large, stable and prosperous. But it could well have been tinged with a measure of emotion for PHT, which like many firms in the clinical sector has traditionally preferred handhelds from Palm. (An exception is etrials, which touted the Windows platform early.)

Palm, needless to say, continues to put itself through a series of bewildering ownership, managerial and technological changes that leave it ill-equipped to respond to a double threat from RIM (maker of the Blackberry) or Apple, where the iPhone is expected to be well-received in corporations. Having said that, Windows devices still tend to have lower prices, comparable features and easier integration into the corporate technology landscape. 

Collateral Clinical Impact?

Is PHT abandoning the Palm platform? No. “We will continue to support the Palm platform for the foreseeable future,” says Lee. “We do have some clients that prefer the HP platform.”

Most sponsors, Lee says, spend a minimal amount of time ruminating about who builds the device, and more time sweating the details of the screen and user interface. “What’s important is that whatever device they select has the resolution and the size and other basic characteristics to make sure the patient can enter the data,” he says. “The ease of use is much more important.”

Trials in Hindi

The company’s VP of marketing, Sheila Rocchio, says the data management software from PHT remains the same no matter which device is used. “The 21 CFR Part 11 compliance and the data viewing tools remain the same,” she says.

She says the Windows platform has a few advantages for international trials: simpler options for networking and data transfer. And for trials in India needing various dialects of Hindi languages, “The Windows platform has more fonts available,” she adds.

In an industry worried about the seemingly mosquito-long life spans of some cellular phones, the HP device is being positioned for corporate customers. PHT believes that the HP unit will be in circulation for a reassuringly long time in an industry worried about trials that may last for years. “They’re committed to keeping it available for 3 years,” Rocchio says.