Elevating Clinical Trial Participation with Integrated Services!
In clinical research, the drive for efficiency and patient-centric solutions is reshaping how trials are conducted. The clinical trials industry is increasingly focused on overcoming traditional barriers to patient participation. This includes addressing logistical challenges, ensuring patient safety and enhancing overall experiences for participants. The emphasis has shifted towards innovative strategies that streamline processes, reduce patient burden, and improve research outcomes.
The organization at the forefront of this transformation is mdgroup. This organization excels in providing comprehensive support for pharmaceutical and biotech companies, enhancing patient engagement and participation across clinical trials. Its solutions encompass a wide range of services, from patient reimbursements, safe transport, and remote study visits to personalized support, health care staffing and clinical equipment logistics. By integrating these services into a cohesive strategy, mdgroup is driving significant improvements in both site-based and decentralized trial experiences.
Through its specialized divisions, mdgroup exemplifies a commitment to patient-centric clinical trial management. The company’s offerings include on-demand (travel and payment) services, navigator support and mobile health solutions, all designed to make participation easier and trials more accessible. By leveraging bespoke cutting-edge technology and a global network, mdgroup continues to set new standards in clinical trial support, ensuring that the needs of patients are met with exceptional care and efficiency.
Let’s explore more about mdgroup:
Innovative Solutions for Patient-Centric Clinical Trials
mdgroup specializes in supporting pharmaceutical and biotech companies of all sizes in attracting, engaging and retaining patient participation in healthcare research. Its approach revolves around a global ecosystem of clinical trial solutions designed to streamline patient reimbursements, ensure safe patient transport and provide high quality in-home health visits.
Moreover, it offers personalized patient support, clinical equipment logistics and top-tier healthcare professional staffing placements. Its mission is to deliver remarkable experiences for patients participating in both site-based and decentralized clinical trials.
mdgroup’s core business is encapsulated in its patient primary division, which comprises three key services:
Firstly, its ‘on-demand’ service is integral to its operations. It encompasses personalized concierge support, compliant travel, accommodation and logistics, as well as expense management, reimbursements and stipend payments. This service ensures that patients are brought to the trial with the assistance of its dedicated team of Navigators. By paying close attention to the details that make a significant difference, they collaborate with clients to drastically reduce patient drop-out rates and facilitate exceptional experiences at every stage of a clinical trial.
Secondly, its ‘mobile health’ service is developing the future of decentralized clinical trials by bringing the trial directly to the patient. This service facilitates remarkable experiences within the comfort of patients’ own homes or location of choice. Decentralized and hybrid clinical trials provide greater flexibility for patients to participate in studies on their terms, which has a direct positive impact on recruitment and retention rates and significantly improves clinical outcomes.
Bringing all of this together is the ‘navigator’ service, which simplifies the clinical trial journey for patients. This service provides personalized support for patients across the ondemand and mobile health services. The dedicated navigator team reduces the burden on trial participants by understanding their unique requirements and preferences, providing a bespoke service to patients throughout the duration of their clinical trials – whether the visit takes place at the site or remotely. This white-glove level of support significantly reduces patient drop-out rates.
mdgroup services are indication agnostic and the organization’s expertise, knowledge and experience span a diverse array of therapeutic areas, demonstrating a profound commitment to advancing medical research and patient care. Much of their work has been in rare and genetic disorders includes groundbreaking efforts in Osteogenesis Imperfecta. Within cardiology, the organization has supported patients with complex conditions including Homozygous Familial Hypercholesterolemia. Its gynaecology trial experience has been on alleviating heavy menstrual bleeding associated with uterine fibroids.
mdgroup has also supported a spectrum of clinical trials on CNS disorders, including Schizophrenia, Major Depressive Disorder, and Early Alzheimer’s Disease. With dermatology the organization has assisted patients with Recessive Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa. In oncology they have supported a wide range of conditions, such as Mantle Cell Lymphoma, Leukemia (Phase 1), Prostate Cancer, Renal Cell Carcinoma, and Advanced Solid Tumors.
Additionally, mdgroup has aided endocrinology projects that address Diabetes Metabolic and Lipodystrophy, while its work with immunology trials has been on Systemic Lupus Erythematous, Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia, and Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency-1 (LAD-1). Ophthalmology projects include conditions like Graves’ Ophthalmopathy, and respiratory research focuses on COPD.
mdgroup’s commitment to rare diseases has found them supporting a range of clinical trials, covering Mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) IIIA, FABRY, Duchenne, Ataxia Telangiectasia, WHIM Syndrome, POMPE Disease, Muscular Dystrophy, FANCA FAOD, Cerebral X-Linked Adrenoleukodystrophy, and XLH. In rheumatology, the organization has aided studies on Rheumatoid Arthritis. Lastly, the establishment’s work in vaccine trials, particularly against COVID-19, underscores its dedication to addressing global health challenges.
Key Milestones in Expanding Global Clinical Trial Support
mdgroup has achieved several significant milestones and accomplishments that have solidified its position as an industry leader in clinical trial support services.
In 2000, mdgroup launched its internal mobile health services. Until that time, they had focused on solutions that supported patients when their visits were taking place at the site – organizing travel and reimbursing patients for out-of-pocket expenses. They were delighted to establish their mobile health team, led by experienced research nurses and study coordinators, to also support visits taking place away from the clinic.
This division grew very quickly and now supports over 200 visits per month globally, on all continents. They also launched their internal equipment management and distribution (horreum in 2000) and clinical resourcing divisions (seacolehealth in 2001) to enable full control over all aspects of mobile health, thus increasing reliability, consistency and quality.
Most recently, their mobile health team reached two remarkable milestones by marking their first patient visits in Japan and Pakistan, two countries where mobile health is not yet widely accepted. These milestones are a testament to their dedication to expanding the reach of decentralized clinical trials and enhancing patient access to healthcare on a global scale.
Decades of Patient-Centric Innovation in Clinical Trials
For over two decades, mdgroup has been dedicated to making life better for patients and caregivers participating in clinical trials. Its innovative approach is defined by an unwavering commitment to supporting patients in ways that best suit their individual needs and lifestyles. This patient-centric philosophy sets them apart from their competitors.
The company’s ethos is simple: expect remarkable. This ethos drives everything they do, from facilitating clinical trial participation within the comfort of patients’ own homes to supporting safe travel to and from study sites or developing hybrid models that combine the best of both worlds. They work closely with clients to design protocols that meet the unique needs of patients and their caregivers, ensuring a tailored approach that enhances patient engagement and satisfaction.
A key differentiator for mdgroup is its cutting-edge digital platform, ‘primarius,’ which underpins all their services. Primarius acts as a central hub that seamlessly integrates every stage of the clinical journey. This technology ensures that patients, caregivers, sponsors and sites have a seamless, integrated experience.
The benefits are clear: happier, more engaged patients, lower dropout rates, higher recruitment rates and better clinical outcomes. As mentioned previously, along with primarius they also have sister companies, horreum, their medical equipment distribution network and seacolehealth, their clinical staffing agency. This means they have all the necessary capabilities to support patient visits for clinical trials, uniquely consolidated in one partner.
Enhancing Clinical Trial Experiences
Patients are at the center of everything mdgroup does. The establishment believes in creating a better experience for all patients and their caregivers participating in clinical trials, recognizing that without patients, clinical research could not exist. It provides the best care possible by empathizing with these families and patients to find diverse solutions that meet their specific needs and preferences. It also ensures comfort throughout the clinical trial journey to deliver remarkable experiences for patients and families.
Taking a patient-first approach is key to creating a powerful recruitment and retention strategy. mdgroup’s global team of experts are available 24 hours a day throughout the entire clinical journey, supporting sponsors and CROs to positively impact the lives of thousands of patients worldwide. The patient journey involves many complexities, and it is mdgroup’s responsibility, along with healthcare providers and trial sponsors, to understand the nuances of different journeys.
It all starts with genuinely and authentically getting to know patients on a one-to-one level. The organization achieves this by understanding their medical, travel and other needs, even smaller details like patient communication preferences – details that could be the defining factor in guiding a patient to complete their clinical trial.
Its services reduce the overall patient burden, allowing patients to participate in life-saving clinical research without being required to travel significant distances to a trial site, or being well supported when travel is essential to complete the required protocol assessments. This reduction in burden enables patients to participate on their own terms and improves trial accessibility.
Driving Innovation in Clinical Trial Technology
mdgroup is committed to advancing the technology used in clinical trials to provide patients with the most seamless experience concerning appointments, travel, expense reimbursement and more. Its team examines technology and explores how it can be implemented to enhance clinical trials and patient care. This approach enables new outcomes and enables perpetual betterment.
For instance, mdgroup aims to improve the speed and effectiveness of team members’ connections with patients in need of support. Leveraging technology to facilitate these critical interactions and responses, ensuring the provision of accessible, round-the-clock care. While maintaining a keen focus on developing benchmark technology, mdgroup’s patient services and digital teams collaborate closely to achieve this goal.
At the same time, mdgroup appreciates that not all patients are willing or able to use modern technology for requests/communication. Their services also allow patients to communicate via phone or email if that is their preference. They have found that not having an alternative to modern communication options can actually exclude some patients. Another example of the organizations ethos of putting patients first, they let patients choose how they interact with their team.
In recent years, the establishment has witnessed advancements in healthcare technology used in clinical trials. The COVID-19 pandemic acted as a catalyst, accelerating innovation and adoption in clinical research. As a result, mdgroup is now seeing the global uptake of successful decentralized and hybrid clinical trials, transforming the industry.
Championing Patient Support and Women’s Health Innovation
mdgroup are proud supporters of the Gladiator Project, sponsoring and attending their annual golf day. The Gladiator Project is a non-profit organization that supports brain cancer research and serves as a resource hub for patients and their families. Its mission is to connect brain cancer patients and their families with the support they need to fight and fundraise for research to find a cure.
mdgroup are also supporting Magee-Womens Research Institute, the world’s largest organization dedicated to women’s health and reproductive sciences, by sponsoring the Magee-Womens Summit, a signature event. Together with UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital, one of the top hospitals in the US specializing in women’s health, and the University of Pittsburgh ranked among the top 10 nationwide in federal grant and contract support, Magee-Womens is uniquely positioned to promote and shape scientific inquiry in women’s health topics.
The key to a remarkable patient experience is maintaining a patient-first mindset at all levels. This approach needs to start with executive leadership and extend through all levels of the organization, ensuring that patients are prioritized long before they are enrolled in a clinical trial.
Nurturing Employee Engagement and Wellness
At mdgroup, its greatest asset is its employees, who are the lifeblood of the organization and embody its shared values. The delivery of high-quality services is made possible by the dedication and expertise of these teams, who ensure excellence in their work every day. Team members are trained in all aspects of the patient experience, including the language of empathy. Genuinely connecting with people and putting them first is an art form – and it’s vital for building authentic relationships.
Employee engagement and retention are areas of significant focus. mdgroup conducts annual reviews to celebrate successes, create strategies for growth and improvement and understand individual career goals to support them effectively. Promoting from within is something mdgroup always try to do. They provide shadowing opportunities so that staff have the chance to see other areas of the business that they may want to support in the future.
Employee wellness is also a priority. Given the industry’s advancing nature and the potential for burnout, the establishment ensures that teams receive wellness days each quarter to focus on themselves and achieve a mental refresh.
The culture at mdgroup is centered around supporting one another to achieve not only the goals with work, clients and patients, but also the goals staff have personally and at home. Sometimes work comes first, other times, homelife does. Either way, mdgroup have the necessary support mechanisms in place to make managing things easier.
Expanding Mobile Health and Enhancing Clinical Trial Management
mdgroup is committed to continuing the expansion of mobile health and bringing the advantages of decentralized and hybrid clinical trials to more regions worldwide. By doing so, it aims to make clinical trial participation more accessible and convenient for patients everywhere, contributing to better healthcare outcomes globally. Its focus is on health equity, making clinical research more accessible and creating ways for sponsors to achieve their objectives faster while always keeping patient needs at the forefront.
A key objective for the coming year is to grow its service offerings to include activities that naturally complement its existing support for patients and sites, further enhancing stakeholders’ experiences in clinical trials. Most clinical trials face challenges with timeline delays, a significant percentage of which are related to patient recruitment and retention.
With its in-house technology platform, primarius, mdgroup aims to expand its capabilities to serve as a central information hub across its suite of services. Primarius aims to provide every individual involved in the clinical journey with a single point of contact to access all necessary information, including integration with other platforms used by sponsors to conduct their trials. mdgroup wants to simplify reporting and ensure that sponsors, sites, and patients can access the information as required.
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