Poll Finds Ironic Inefficiency

Like any industry, the world of life sciences is in a constant battle for more efficient processes. Of course, with clinical trials there is the additional hassle of having to share extensive amounts of data among the multiple players involved in a trial.

Communication Methods in Clinical Trials
That's why it is surprising to find that still some 50% of these industry professionals use email as their predominant method of sharing high-value information, according to an Intralink's poll (New York, NY).

Even more surprising, the survey showed that following email as the top means for transferring information among clinical trials professionals was fax and overnight courier.

When weeks can potentially equal millions in a study, it seems that overnight mail and fax would certainly be the least likely candidates. But still, almost 15% are using fax and almost 14% are using overnight mail.

Though there is an obvious level of comfort in using these traditional methods of communication, "they come up short because they lack the security and audit capabilities you're looking for in this kind of process," noted Alison Shurell, vice president of life sciences product marketing for Intralinks.

Out with the old

The obvious risk in using such methods when sharing sensitive documents, Shurell told Applied Clinical Trials, is that "emails can get intercepted and sent to the wrong address, faxes are often left on the machine, and other people can see that. The other thing is that with email and fax it is very difficult to establish an audit trail—how do you know that who you sent it to got it, how do you know they picked it up?"