Intouch Clinical

The Exco InTouch Retention and Compliance solution is powered by InTouch Clinical, our industry leading and award winning communication product.

Using a unique combination of Internet and Mobile Phone technology, our patent pending methods of providing regulatory compliant messaging services, enables InTouch Clinical to automatically schedule and deliver cell phone based, study specific text messages direct to the patient in their preferred language and local time zone.

Who is it for?

Sites

We all recognise that site staff today are extremely busy and with this in mind we offer a straightforward mechanism for the sites to enrol patients, manage communication and review patient compliance information.

Following simple training, site users access the secure Exco InTouch website using a unique username and password. Patients are enrolled quickly and easily using their subject ID, cell phone number and first visit date, the system then calculates the patients' ideal visit schedule and assigns appropriate messaging to be sent at the required study milestones.

This schedule for each patient can be easily edited to reflect both patient and site preferences with reminders to stay within visit windows.  Messages are sent either via SMS text message to the cell phone or email to a nominated account.

It is important to provide features that help the site with their work processes. Exco InTouch have built in several features that help the site manage patients and their own administration time more effectively:

• System calculates personal visit schedule for each patient which simplifies the visit timetable for site staff.
• Helping sites keep visits within defined windows for each visit (a warning message is triggered when a date outside of a predefined range is selected).
• Site will be reminded about telephone assessments (if required) for each patient so that these important milestones are not forgotten about.
• After each visit has passed the site will receive an automated email prompting them to log in to the InTouch Clinical system and update the visit date accordingly if future dates have changed.
• Site can receive emails informing them when a patient is due for their next visit so that they can plan resources accordingly.
• System can be used to manage PK sub study patients and extend patients into follow up phases.

Patients

As with all technology solutions, for it to be a successful, the end user must be satisfied. With all Exco InTouch solutions, during the requirements and design phase, we gather as much information as possible about the typical patient and site users who will interact with our service.

The system can be designed to take multiple phone numbers if required so that in the event that the patient does not attend the visit or cannot be contacted, the secondary contacts or careers can be approached.

Once enrolled, patients will begin to receive SMS reminders about study milestones. As this information is delivered via SMS, training of patients is minimal and, in most cases not required.

The Benefits

All SMS Text Messages are scheduled and managed via our ATLAS SMS gateway - a global, regulatory compliant, enterprise SMS text messaging application that works in conjunction with InTouch Clinical.

Using validated cellular networks, ATLAS schedules, sends and tracks delivery of SMS text messages worldwide. Currently ATLAS connects to over 750 mobile networks in 196 countries providing a reliable and robust mobile network for sites and patients to connect with. All SMS text messages transmitted by InTouch Clinical are subject to a full audit trail and receipt generation mechanism which means we know when a text message has been successfully received by a patient.

Unlike pre-configured static reminders in other systems, SMS text message reminders are delivered from a central server using NTP (Network Time Protocol). This ensures they will be delivered at the correct time and we can track the successful delivery, rather than relying on a local clock setting of the device.

Exco InTouch uses only approved and audited mobile networks in conjunction with our ATLAS software. This is essential to guarantee against spam messaging and also in protecting patient's confidentiality. For example, in the USA, messages must be sent through a dedicated mobile shortcode which is controlled by a registered company and approved by each cellular network independently. This global infrastructure took over 18 months to develop and validate and we are proud to offer this capability to our clients.

Our solution is designed to be compliant with the regulatory requirements of the FDA and HIPAA concerning patient privacy and data protection. The solution is approved by ethics and IRB's globally and is proven to be effective in patient management by automating text message communication.

How it works

InTouch Clinical is configured by the Exco InTouch project delivery team to match the requirements of the protocol and other trial milestones / deliverables. Our project team guide clients through system set up study conduct to ensure the system is utilized to the full potential.

Once the system is live, patients are enrolled by trained site staff via a simple and secure website which creates no additional workload and provides a useful reference point to help site staff manage their day to day tasks.

Patient communication is automated throughout the trial, a typical retention and compliance program will employ one or a combination of the following types of messages:

• Visit Reminders. Enrolled patients receive timed reminders regarding their next clinic appointment. These can be either one-way reminders or two-way, prompting the patient to confirm that they can or cannot attend their appointment.
• Medication Reminders. Everyone forgets to take their medication from time to time. This problem is further compounded when patients are taking multiple medications (poly-pharmacy) or have a complicated, varying regimen. SMS can be sent according to medication, dose and frequency to remind patients when and how to take their medication safely.
• Study Compliance & Motivation. Simply by forgetting to fast or to take a sample of urine can result in a patient being ineligible for the study. Our timed reminders can help reduce these oversights and help to motivate the patient to adhere to the study milestones and protocol requirements.
• Two-way global text messaging service can be implemented to collect data directly from patients or to allow them to inform sites easily if they need to reschedule visits.
• Alerts to sites, CRA’s and Sponsor team members regarding protocol violations.
• Alerts to sites regarding updating visit schedule and upcoming visits.

What Next?

How can we help your study to succeed?

When you feel you have all the information you need then we are always happy to discuss your study design and provide our recommendations. We can even show you a live demonstration so you can witness firsthand the benefits of inTouch Clinical.

Kick off only takes two hours and we do nearly all the work. We manage the adoption of the tool and you only need to invest one man day of effort from start to finish. We will train and provide eLearning, allowing you rest easier because the subject and site compliance is not left to chance.

To book a demonstration, request a proposal or to speak to an Exco InTouch expert, please use the "I like what I see" form on the right of this page and we will contact you shortly.