Stefanini TechTeam

Posted 26 July 2011 / 2:00 pm by William Riley, Director, Stefanini TechTeam

To take the pulse of life science professionals each year and anticipate market trends, Stefanini TechTeam surveys attendees at the annual DIA tradeshow — a must-attend event for medical technology vendors, pharmaceutical companies, and IT outsourcing firms. The survey results are not only informative, but allow us to understand critical details involved in the clinical trial process.

• A growing trend in clinical support is the use of specialized help desks or a CRO (Clinical Research Organization). In 2010 DIA survey, we noted that 65% of respondents use of their company’s standard IT Help Desk. In a clear shift for 2011, only 37% of people use their company’s standard IT Help Desk, while 23% indicated they use a “specialized” desk during their trial period.
• The most significant business challenge for help desks during the clinical trials is understanding the larger scope, including business goals and hours of operations.
• A second significant business challenge relative to clinical help desks focuses on global reporting capabilities. In our 2011 survey, 24% reported this issue. Interestingly, these results are almost identical to our survey responses from 2010.
• Most organizations conduct between 0-20 trials a year (33%), in 1-5 countries (43%). One of the largest trends Stefanini TechTeam sees is a decrease in the overall number of trials conducted. In 2011, there are fewer firms conducting huge quantities of trials — greater than 300 trials globally per year.