Driving participant interactivity, enhancing understanding and improving satisfaction will be the focus of eConsent strategies in 2017 and beyond, according to the results of a new “State of eConsent” survey released by CRF Health. The findings suggest that 55% of respondents’ organizations will adopt eConsent in 2017, rising to 82% by 2020.

The survey, which collated the opinions of respondents from 100 biotech, pharmaceutical, CRO and IRB organizations, sought to benchmark eConsent use across the industry; to gauge experiences and expectations; better understand adoption hurdles and challenges; and predict how the use of eConsent will grow in the future. The 146 respondents included individuals from across clinical operations, executive leadership, clinical sciences and data management.

Other findings included that 76% of respondents view the ability to create the eConsent in-house without vendor involvement as one of the top design functionalities, and 80% specified that the ability to deploy eConsent to sites using digital tablets is a key priority. According to the results, perceived high costs and uncertain ROI are still proving to be a barrier and preventing some organizations from becoming early adopters.

“eConsent has quickly made a name for itself as the next big technology innovation for clinical trials,” comments Rachael Wyllie, CEO, CRF Health. “Both regulators and industry groups advocate the clear advantages of electronic means, so it is no surprise that sponsors and CROs are engaging with or are planning an eConsent initiative in the near future.

“The findings from the survey put the spotlight on the need for more adaptable solutions that don’t require continuous vendor support. This is going to be critical in helping customers build a strategic roadmap towards eConsent. Sponsors, CROs and sites are already suffering the burden of trying to integrate multiple and highly complex technologies into their trial designs. When it comes to eConsent, we’ve learned that our customers are looking for intuitive and easy-to-use solutions that ultimately achieve better data and better informed patients who remain in the clinical trial for its duration.”