PFS Clinical, a Middleton, Wis.-based provider of turnkey administration solutions that address the key pain points of establishing and running a clinical trial office, has been engaged by the Boston Medical Center (BMC) Clinical Trial Office to provide Medicare Coverage Analysis (CA) of its research trials. PFS Clinical also is helping streamline the transfer of trial information into BMC’s recently deployed clinical trial management system (CTMS) and will provide employee training through its CA workshops.

“Understanding and proactively pursuing reimbursement of all appropriate fees and expenses from sponsoring organizations and patients’ insurance is a difficult and time-consuming task, the complexity of which is exacerbated by an evolving regulatory landscape that makes compliance an ongoing challenge,” said Michael Collins, executive director of research at BMC. “The experts at PFS Clinical are helping gain efficiencies, accelerating the revenue cycle and relieving our clinical staff of a substantial administrative burden so they can focus on patient care where it is most needed.”

Boston Medical Center, together with Boston University School of Medicine, works to find new and better ways to treat and cure disease. Patients have access to an extensive roster of clinical trials from national cooperative groups, industry and investigator initiated trials through its Clinical Trials Office and Cancer Research Center. Study protocols are being conducted for breast cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, blood cells (or immune system disorders) and more.

Launched in 2010 by PharmaSeek, PFS Clinical eliminates the disconnect between clinical trial expenses and revenue streams, prepares the financial infrastructure to support accrual-based accounting, tracks receivables and collections, reconciles payments and recovers lost revenues. This includes setting clinical trial programs on solid financial footing with CA and contract/budget review and negotiation services focused on maximizing per-patient budgets and administrative items paid by the sponsoring organization—often including its own services. PFS Clinical also specializes in study/corporate marketing and advertising, patient recruitment and business development to help drive revenue into research programs.

PFS Clinical staff members operate remotely, eliminating any overhead or training expenses on behalf of the client and limiting disruptions during partnership onboarding. Partnering with PFS Clinical will decrease study startup timelines, overhead costs, and internal training, while allowing personnel to refocus their attention to quality patient care.

“Our experts have deep industry experience in all facets of a centralized clinical trial office, which enables us to tailor our CA services to fit each research organization’s specific needs to help ensure that their executed coverage, budgets and protocols accurately reflect every element of the trial for which they should be paid by the sponsor or that should be billed to insurance. Also crucial is ensuring that all billing and other administrative processes are compliant, including the provision of the justification necessary for our clients to prevail in the case of an audit,” said Jessica Krone, team manager at PFS Clinical.