How To Make a Case For Mobile Apps In Medical Research Studies

6 Reasons

Medical research studies that primarily gather data are good candidates for mobile apps. And Apple’s ResearchKit has demonstrated the effectiveness of using mobile apps in these scenarios.

The following are six reasons why you should be considering using Mobile Apps like ResearchKit for your studies:

1. It may be old news and is probably stating the obvious – but almost everyone has smartphones and, more importantly, are used to doing everything on their phones. So why would they want to answer their study questions on their desktops or even worse, on paper?

2. In research studies, data is king. Anything that makes data collection easier, quality of data better, and quantity of data larger, will automatically make research study outcomes more robust.

3. Mobile apps, with their potential to target more users, means more participants and hence more data. Collecting data via an application means automating the data collection process and doing away with error-prone processes like transcribing data into the database.

4. And, the biggest win for a mobile app is the fact that data entry by the participant is minimized as a lot of the data can be obtained from device sensors, wearable devices, and other data sources. This is a win-win for all.

5. Apple’s ResearchKit translates the entire study process for a participant into a mobile experience. It helps study participants get educated on the study, provide their consent, and respond to study questions on their smartphone. It includes a template for building mobile apps to handle the process of guiding a participant through all steps of the study.

6. Not far behind is Android’s ResearchStack that brings the benefits of a mobile app research study experience to Android phones.

So what is the caveat? The barrier to entry for using mobile apps in clinical trial-based research studies is much higher. Any study that has a clinical or an intervention-based component to it has much more stringent guidelines as well as processes that require manual interaction at various points in the study.

BTC can help with this.

It’s Time To Prepare For the Future of Research Studies – Mobile Apps

What started out as a trickle of research-based mobile apps is turning into a steady stream and will soon turn into a flood, as it becomes the de-facto means of engaging participants in research studies.