Clinical trials are a crucial driver of innovation in biotechnology, but their complexity can lead to significant operational hurdles. Biotech companies must allocate and track resources from specimen sampling to drug development to optimize every stage of testing and drug development. 

However, with the need for real-time data and the persistence of manual processes, firms can see significant time waste and lost opportunities to improve processes. By managing these challenges with strategic technologies, companies can streamline their clinical trial operations and improve research efficiency. (Applied Clinical Trials)

Blankfactor is helping one pioneering biotechnology company leverage AI-powered patient scheduling to streamline its clinical trial process for revolutionary precision medicine treatments. Read on to find out more. 

Scaling personalized vaccines

Our client’s precision medicine program personalizes treatments by creating solutions specific to each patient’s medical profile. This innovative approach offers exciting possibilities — and also demands a highly efficient production and scheduling process.  

Previously, our partner’s system tracked their process at a daily cadence. This limited granularity and hindered their ability to:

  • Optimize production capacity: Identifying idle machines or potentially overbooking presented challenges, impacting the ability to produce at full capacity.
  • Schedule critical dose dates: Ensuring timely vaccine delivery for clinical trials can be challenging without optimized scheduling.

Building a granular, AI-powered patient scheduler

Blankfactor contributed to revitalizing our client’s scheduler, which functions as the nerve center of clinical production, providing crucial detail and automation for efficient AI-powered patient scheduling and resource allocation.

Tackling data requirements and user needs

For our client, the planned system enhancements and continuous innovations in treatment procedures require the scheduler to adapt to both existing and evolving workflows.

Our team contributed to tackling some complex challenges in the project:

  • Data model revamp: A redesign of the data model to capture information hourly and track individual machines. This granularity provided a more precise picture of resource utilization.
  • Process breakdown: Breaking down complex processes into smaller, more manageable steps. These steps and their relationships were then meticulously modeled within the system.
  • Data integration: Data from disparate sources was streamlined and integrated into logical blocks for efficient scheduling.
  • Visualizing efficiency: We developed new visualizations to meet user needs. 
  • Modernized interface: Our partner aimed to create a standardized look and feel for apps, so we built user interface (UI) components in close collaboration with their UX teams, including UX researchers. We handled the front-end development, revamping the UI and application programming interface (API) to accommodate the revamped data model.
  • AI/ML-optimization integration: The scheduler integrates with an internal machine learning service, allowing for automated schedule optimization based on real-time data.

Facilitated by a team of four Blankfactor specialists, the project delivered impressive results in less than three months.

A massive leap in scheduling efficiency

The AI-powered patient scheduling solution delivered a significant boost to the client:

  • Increased patient capacity: The system enhancements enabled our partner to scale their patient capacity by more than 6 times — from 20 patients per month to 150.
  • Granular tracking: Enabling hourly and individual machine-level tracking improved resource utilization.
  • Improved dose tracking: Visualizations facilitated dosing date monitoring.
  • Strategic Integration: Integration with the internal ML service automated schedule optimization, strategically freeing up valuable staff time.
  • Stakeholder satisfaction: Early demos garnered positive feedback from stakeholders.

Modeling the future of precision medicine

AI patient scheduling can transform clinical trials. By streamlining the process for their innovative treatments, our client can reach more patients and accelerate the development of potentially life-saving therapies. 

As the life sciences industry embraces next-generation AI, we expect even more advancements in clinical trial management, paving the way for faster medical breakthroughs and improved patient care. At Blankfactor, we help clients change and transform through next-generation technologies. From complex data design and API integrations to machine learning to UX design, our experts are helping companies drive outcomes in biotechnology, payments, and beyond. Find out more and sign up for a complimentary 60-minute strategy session today.