Europe (UK): +44 1732 316319 | India: +91 20 71531039 | USA: +1 855 2596535

WEB DEMO
  • Home
  • About
    • Our Story
    • The Executive Team
    • Why CRFWEB?
    • Contact
      • Our locations
      • Europe – UK Office
      • India
    • Careers
    • Security and compliance
  • Solutions
    • The EDC process
    • eCRF
    • MedDRA
    • Randomization
    • ePRO
    • eDiary
    • The Clindox App
    • Clindox eLab
    • Innovations Hub
  • Medical Devices
    • Medical Devices Home
    • Introduction to Medical Device Investigations
    • Pre-Licence Investigations
    • Post-Market Investigations
    • Technologies for Investigations
      • technologies for medical device clinical trials
      • ePRO & eDiary for medical device clinical trials
      • EDC for medical device clinical trials
      • The Clindox App for medical devices
      • Clindox eLab
    • Medical Device Regulations
    • Medical Device Resource Centre
    • Clindox for IVD Studies
  • Other Sectors
    • Pharma-Biotech
    • Nutraceuticals
    • CROs
    • Academia
    • Clindox for IVD Studies
  • News
WEB DEMO
  • Home
  • About
    • Our Story
    • The Executive Team
    • Why CRFWEB?
    • Contact
      • Our locations
      • Europe – UK Office
      • India
    • Careers
    • Security and compliance
  • Solutions
    • The EDC process
    • eCRF
    • MedDRA
    • Randomization
    • ePRO
    • eDiary
    • The Clindox App
    • Clindox eLab
    • Innovations Hub
  • Medical Devices
    • Medical Devices Home
    • Introduction to Medical Device Investigations
    • Pre-Licence Investigations
    • Post-Market Investigations
    • Technologies for Investigations
      • technologies for medical device clinical trials
      • ePRO & eDiary for medical device clinical trials
      • EDC for medical device clinical trials
      • The Clindox App for medical devices
      • Clindox eLab
    • Medical Device Regulations
    • Medical Device Resource Centre
    • Clindox for IVD Studies
  • Other Sectors
    • Pharma-Biotech
    • Nutraceuticals
    • CROs
    • Academia
    • Clindox for IVD Studies
  • News

Articles

Paper trials or EDC – what’s more cost-effective?

June 3, 2020 /Posted bymike oxlee

One of the common barriers to acceptance of EDC is cost. At face value paper trials cost you ink and paper and EDC a licence agreement – the price of which at first glance may seem a prohibitive or unnecessary expense. But is it? Because time is money. So let’s have a look at the time comparisons:

set up: if designed directly into an EDC there’s no reason why study set up should be slower than a paper design, in fact with the ability to test and reports as you build, the design phase can be quicker.

data entry: a well designed EDC eCRF is as simple as any paper form to enter data on, and once it’s in, it’s in. Direct data capture on a mobile device adds to the simplicity – allowing clinicians to enter data whilst with a subject – whilst subject-led data capture removes the need for a formal visit entirely. There’s far less chance of data entry error in the first place with edit-checks, formatting and formulae. There’s no need for time-consuming double-data entry.

queries and data management: Managing data queries is a very labour intensive aspect of clinical trials and a major source of delays. Manual tracking of paperwork adds significant time and cost to the study. On an EDC platform with notifications this is dramatically simplified and a significant area of time to market reduction. SDV is also hugely simplified and electronic signatures and automatic audit trails create a complete picture of who checked and amended what and when.

reporting: A paper trial still needs reports produced, so someone has to enter the data into a program for analysis. A well structured EDC platform provides numerous standard reports and a variety of customisable options. Outputs via excel, SAS and SDTM functionality create outputs to save time and money on statistical analysis and provide the compliance expectations of local regulatory bodies such as the FDA.

Add in the security and compliance risks and storage and access issues required for paper trials it becomes clear that an FDA compliant EDC system is no longer a nice to have, it’s a must have. The efficiencies are obvious, but on closer inspection so are the financial benefits. Even in international markets where labour costs are low, a sensibly priced quality EDC system will save you money while it saves you time.

There’s no such thing as a trial too small for an EDC application to be of benefit.  If your trials are small and only last weeks or a few months, systems like CRFWEB with flexible pricing options are still an economic option. The more trials you do, the better the long term economics and efficiencies.
Share Post
In a bit of a jam? How we&#821...
TO A BRIGHT NEW YEAR

About author

About Author

mike oxlee

Other posts by mike oxlee

Related posts

Articles
Read more

Meeting the IVDR challenge: digitizing the collection of study data

June 20, 2022
Continue reading

Covid-19: What has been the impact of the pandemic on India and how have Indian Clinical Trials been affected?

March 14, 2022
Continue reading
Articles
Read more

Decentralized Clinical Trials – new kid on the block or a venerable idea resurrected?

January 18, 2022
Continue reading
Articles
Read more

Announcing the all New Clindox App

January 18, 2022
Continue reading
Articles
Read more

Farewell 2021: A challenging year but successful for Clindox

December 21, 2021
Continue reading

5 Star rated on Capterra

CRFWEB is a clinical trial software application by Clindox

Clindox-8-300x212

Policies

Privacy Policy
Security policy

UK

+44 1732 316319

India

+91 207 1531039

Social Links

Facebook Twitter Linkedin

Registered number: 526690 © Copyright CRFweb 2019

Web design Yorkshire by Feel Design