Vodafone, a mobile communications company, has signed an agreement with Exco InTouch, a provider of compliant, interactive mobile patient management solutions, to deliver Vodafone Patient Reported Outcomes (Vodafone PRO), a solution that has the potential to improve patient compliance and data quality in clinical research.

Vodafone PRO enables high quality data to be gathered as trial participants report their experiences quickly and easily using their own mobile phone. The service will be available on a global scale, benefiting from Vodafone’s international footprint and in-depth mobile and consumer insight, along with Exco InTouch’s extensive background in patient engagement.

Vodafone selected Exco InTouch because the company provides simple, non-intrusive and compliant channels of communication. This enables sponsors and CROs to find and retain the right patients through engaging interactions and improved patient experience as well as offering customizable solutions to facilitate the collection of high quality patient data.

“With this collaboration, Vodafone is confident that we can offer our clients the most innovative and effective clinical research solutions available in the global market,” said Axel Nemetz, head of mHealth Solutions for Vodafone. “Our involvement will enable sponsors to choose our services for entire therapeutic areas around the world.”

Tim Davis, CEO of Exco InTouch, said that the partnership “demonstrates the extent to which mobile phone technology is increasingly being recognized by large pharmaceutical companies as an effective tool for the collection of clinical trial data. As a result of the partnership, research sponsors will be able to monitor safety and manage compliance in real time. This will make clinical trials easier and safer for patients, while enabling researchers to collect and process data quickly, accurately and reliably.”

Vodafone PRO can be configured for different study protocols in all phases of clinical research to collect crucial patient reported end point data. This scalable solution allows large volumes of high quality patient data to be securely transferred, validated and analysed in clinical trials. Vodafone PRO will make it easier for sponsors to retain and track people participating in trials and, through the patient-centered approach, is designed to improve the quality of data captured.