Let’s say you’ve gone through a rigorous selection process to pick your EDC, deployed it, and are ready to train your staff.
Your data management team encompasses a wide spectrum of EDC experience — some data managers have used EDC a lot, others very little — and their training needs, therefore, vary as well. But to your dismay, you discover that only one training option is available: in-person training, beginning with EDC basics, on terms and schedule dictated by the vendor.
That’s a problem on several levels. For starters, coordinating schedules and finding a venue for the training can be time-consuming and inconvenient. But the bigger issue is that you’re paying for unnecessary training, delaying start times for studies, and tying up the time of your experienced users to attend sessions they don’t need.
Long-time EDC users may find this scenario familiar. But at a time when the EDC industry is making great strides to optimize the user experience, it has become easier than ever to avoid.
The push to make EDC more user-friendly extends beyond the software itself to include training and support offerings as well.
What does this mean at Medrio? What have we learned about EDC training needs through our interactions with users, and what steps have we taken to put users in control of this essential process?
Flexible eLearning for a Shorter Time to Competency
We’ve spent lots of time in conversation with lots of EDC users, and found that those conversations often turn to frustrations in the training realm.
Users are looking for the flexibility to deliver training by sponsor instead of being confined to an EDC-mandated training regimen. They’re finding that once their costly in-person training sessions finish covering the basics, no time remains to go over the specific needs of their studies.
These conversations have thoroughly informed the flexibility with which Medrio has approached training. Users can, for example, opt-out of formal EDC training and integrate training with the Study Initiation Visit.
But it’s not enough to offer flexibility through policy — just as important to users is the availability of cutting-edge resources. Observers of the EDC market have noticed that eLearning seems to be on the rise in the industry’s training offerings.
With Medrio eLearning, an online on-demand training service, we’ve aimed to address common training frustrations by providing users with general competency in the software, so that any necessary subsequent in-person training can focus on their specific needs instead of going over the basics. And it allows platform users to train at their own convenience, rather than on a schedule dictated by a vendor.
Individuals can advance their Medrio knowledge through instructional videos and training modules, and earn their certification.
Medrio Customer Support and Services
The EDC industry’s increasing focus on maximizing user experience is largely driven by technology and simplicity: the flexibility of the cloud, the rapid data entry made possible with eSource, or the ability to build studies without programming.
This also ties into the broader shift from paper-based data collection to electronic methods, as discussed in our blog on ePRO vs Paper Strategies in Clinical Trials.Â
But on the administrative side, it’s often driven more by the notion that EDC users are entitled to a comprehensive support system that better enables them to conduct their important research with speed and ease. Here are a few things we see as essential rights for EDC users:
- Technology consulting offered either on-site or remotely
- Dedicated Customer Success Managers for qualified users
- 24/7 technical support so that matters can be addressed promptly no matter when they’re received or where they come from
Until recently, competition in the EDC industry was a matter of racing to convert sponsors and CROs from paper-based data management. Now that electronic processes have become the norm, however, the focus has shifted to making solutions exceptional in terms of user-friendliness.
From this perspective, there has never been a better time to be an EDC user.
