Overview

Oklahoma Heart Hospital Research Foundation (OHHRF)) was founded in 1993 as a nonprofit foundation by a group of local cardiologists in an effort to bring the latest cardiovascular medical therapy and device technology to Oklahomans. In 2003, OHHRF created a wholly owned, for-profit subsidiary the Oklahoma Cardiovascular Research Group (OCRG). OHHRF/OCRG strives to provide high quality cardiovascular trial management services to pharmaceutical, medical device and biotechnology industries.

OHHRF's mission is to advance quality patient care in the treatment of cardiovascular disorders and other medical diseases in our community through investigational drug and device technologies.

Research Experience

OHHRF specializes in cardiovascular therapies through affiliation with the largest cardiovascular practice in the state of Oklahoma. OHHRF's medical director is an experienced veteran of clinical trials and maintains current certification in GCPs and human participant protections. OHHRF has conducted more than 200 inpatient and outpatient clinical trials phase 2 to 4.

Specialties include:

• Congestive heart failure and cardiomyopathy
• Coronary artery disease

• chronic and stable angina
• acute myocardial infarction
• heart disease prevention

• Hypertension
• Hyperlipidemia
• Interventional and device studies
• Restenosis prevention therapies
• Angiogenesis and gene therapies
• Acute coronary syndrome
• Peripheral vascular disease
• Cardiac dysrhythmia
• Implantable defibrillator/pacemaker devices

Facility Description

OHHRF is located on Memorial Road between Mercy Hospital and the Oklahoma Heart Hospital. The central location is within 25 minutes of the airport and is just minutes from several major area highways. Satellite offices are within easy driving distance from the main location.

• Comfortable patient waiting area with TV and VCR for patient education
• Spacious exam rooms for patient education, counseling and examination
• Laboratory with centrifuge and -20° F freezer on site, -70° freezer at hospital
• Securely locked drug room
• Crash cart and defibrillator
• Sufficient onsite storage space
• Cardiac MRI
• Nuclear cardiac imaging
• Echocardiography
• Exercise stress testing diagnostic capabilities

Investigator Experience

• Experienced principal investigators accessible for patients and monitoring visits

Staff Expertise

OHHRF Staff

• Inpatient and outpatient, phase 2 to 4
• Clinical research staff of 10
• Flexible staffing allows multiple studies to be covered simultaneously
• Coordinating staff with extensive experience in study initiation, patient recruitment and retention, case report for reporting and proper study conduct
• Research physician assistant
• ACRP-certified coordinators
• CPR- and ACLS-certified staff
• Maintain required training for handling/preparing for transportation of dangerous goods
• Research nurses readily available for contact
• Practice good clinical practice guidelines
• Customized standard operating procedures

OHHRF Recruitment

• Metro population of one million with a large senior populace
• Patients recruited for studies from physician practices, referrals and advertising, including radio, TV, brochures and community events
• Staff dedicated to the recruitment process
• Advertising targeted toward medium most effective for the particular study
• Study Manager™ software used to maintain and track the patient database, monitor patient recruitment, track patient visits, track adverse events and new medical diagnoses, and identify patients for enrollment into appropriate trials

OHHRF Contract and IRB Management

• Director of research to coordinate initial contact and site visit
• Regulatory affairs specialist to coordinate IRB submission/regulatory packet
• Business manager to coordinate contract review
• 48-hour turnaround for contract review
• Central or local IRB capability for all studies
• 10-day turnaround for central IRB submission
• Three-to-four-week turnaround for hospital IRB submission for inpatient studies
• Recognize the importance of quick turnaround for contract review and IRB submission

OHHRF Project Management

• Coordinator readily available for initiation/monitoring visits and investigator meetings
• Coordinator manages all aspects of the clinical trial from site initiation to study closure
• Coordinator acts as a central contact person for patient and sponsor interaction following site initiation
• Accurate and prompt completion of case report forms
• Monitoring area with fax, phone and computer-modem access
• Multiple daily Airborne and Fed Ex pick up
• Remote data entry capabilities and experience