Clinical Monitoring Services in Healthcare Five Exciting Trends to Watch in 2022

Clinical Monitoring Services in Healthcare Five Exciting Trends to Watch in 2022

Clinical monitoring services in healthcare have come a long way in the past decade or so. With new technologies now giving rise to many possibilities that had previously remained but a figment of the imagination, we’ve started to see the revolution take root. From the intervention of artificial intelligence to a drift toward patient centricity, these are exciting times for the healthcare industry, and in particular clinical care services. If you’re keen to find out just what trends are taking over this year, check out our list below.

Decentralizing of clinical trials

To reduce on-site burden, there’s a revolution toward the decentralization of clinical trials like never seen before. This is quite understandable coming off the back of the COVID-19 pandemic where traditional approaches to clinical trials became hampered. 

Beyond being a matter of necessity, this has also been a trend fueled by conveniences. For example, the decentralization of clinical research services is proving an effective way to drive cost-efficiency and reduce revenue pressures. It’s also a great way to access back-end support and other expertise that small research facilities may lack due to a constricted financial ability or skills gap. 

Additionally, this decentralization of clinical studies is also helping to address the biggest thorn in the foot: attrition. 6 out of 10 studies realized delays, inconclusive results, and abandonment, due to failing to meet their subject recruitment quantities. Rethinking study strategies could be just what is needed, providing patients more incentive to take part.

Remote clinical monitoring and integrating technology 

Another trend also catapulted forth by the pandemic, is the management and execution of clinical trials are also now moving toward a remote model. More so, when it comes to: 

• The training of staff for the trail
• Collection and analysis of subject data

With a central database in place, subjects are relying on smart wearables that transmit data to this database without needing any intermediaries. In addition to the data collection being done automatically and in real-time, analysis is also done remotely by off-site physicians, typically by the outsourced company. Patients are also now able to fill out questionnaires by way of a handheld device, the results going into clinical review by a physician in real-time as well.

Increased focus on participant privacy 

The Science Daily recently went in search of answers regarding the growing aversion to clinical trials that we highlighted. While many things get in the way, including the fear of potential side effects, there’s another issue that’s also keeping subjects away: privacy and confidentiality. 

This is even becoming more of a concern with the adoption of remote monitoring technology and the loopholes brought about by virtual technology. There’s a growing need by patients to secure data across all digital bridges, that entailing data curated from these sources: 

• Monitoring devices
• Live subject feedback
• Communication technology to exchange information between trial facilitators and clinics
• Communication technology for stakeholder management during the trial  

It is this hesitance in a world overly skeptical about data privacy that has propelled a clinical monitoring approach that has had to rewire protocols to win back trust. We’re now seeing the incorporation of the best-in-class digital communication that provides end-to-encryption, multi-factor authentication, and other sophisticated protection features.

Amplified patient centricity with personalization 

Fast fading are the days when generic approaches to clinical treatment or monitoring would cut it. Today, patients want – nay, demand- personalized monitoring plans that take into account their specific needs and desires.

Just to paint a picture of the gravity of the situation, reports from a recent survey indicate that 72% of patients crave personalization. The findings also direct that the majority of patients believe the key to this personalization rests with technology. 

This inevitably begs the question how are physicians providing bespoke care experiences for those in their care? Ultimately, it boils down to the adoption of digital healthcare solutions, chief among them RPM. 

Remote patient monitoring is enabling physicians to keep track of vitals remotely and wirelessly. But more importantly, the technology is making it possible for patients to be more involved in their own vital data monitoring. 

Coupled with an open line of communication made possible by virtual healthcare solutions, doctors can liaise with patients in terms of education and adherence. Patients are therefore at the forefront of their own health and can better understand their data and even finetune their lifestyle accordingly.

Use of artificial intelligence for ECG rhythm analysis

Arrhythmias are quite commonplace in the world. We need only to consider atrial fibrillation, which has over the past 2 decades shot up by close to 33% to get a snippet of the dire situation. Today, it ranks among the #1 type of irregular heartbeat in the US, with 5,000,000+ adults projected to have AFib. 

And these are just one of many arrhythmia categorizations which clinical workers are struggling to monitor as they shepherd clinical research toward innovative treatment solutions. To help swing the odds in our favor, health care providers are now leveraging the power of artificial intelligence in the fight against arrhythmias. 

Now, we’re starting to see the adoption of artificial intelligence to better improve ECG rhythm interpretation. For example, some facilities are turning to the power of deep neural networks (DNN) and deep learning, which are trained on ECG data sets, to improve the accuracy of ECG rhythm interpretation. 

And if recent studies in the Journal of Electrocardiology are anything to go by, then the results are looking good. The findings revealed that AI-powered ECG interpretation proved to show higher levels of accuracy in pinpointing ECG irregularities than strictly human-interpreted ECG results, noting accuracies of 92.2% against 87.2%.

There you have it

Now that the top trends in clinical monitoring services for 2022 are out of the bag, what would you say is the trend that excites you the most? For us, the heights that artificial intelligence continues to rise to every day don’t stop astounding. We predicate AI is set to be at the heart of the many disruptions we’re witnessing in the clinical research services industry. If you need a smart, forward-thinking clinical research partner that’s always ahead of the curve, we recommend you visit the Techindia website. The company offers customized data reporting, and 24/7 subject monitoring and provides certified/experienced techs to ensure the best outcomes for your study.