We’ve been receiving a lot of positive feedback from Sites, CROs and Sponsors about our contracts and payments features in SimpleTrials. We are hearing from CROs how our handling of subject visit schedules and contracts supports the “real world” scenarios when protocol amendments occur. Sponsors are pleased to see how subject, contract and payment functionality is designed to manage protocol designs with multiple cohorts, crossover studies, and the invariable complexities that result when the protocol schedule of events evolves for the research needs. Sites are happy to see that they can use SimpleTrials to manage payments to vendors and team members who support their research activities while also facilitating sponsor invoicing and tracking funds received.

Additionally, clients who have workflow separations between clinical, data management and finance team members find that SimpleTrials effectively handles their needs. Information for subject visits is displayed with contract fee amounts to facilitate payment and/or billing needs. Finance team members can assess and invoice fixed fees associated with vendors such as labs and imaging services while accommodating detailed visit driven activities such as physician reimbursement for research procedures. Detailed invoices can be generated and sent to sponsors or sites to manage the fixed and subject driven expenses associated with multiple contracts for a given study.

To further strengthen the workflow needs of sites, sponsors and CROs that utilize SimpleTrials, we have made a number of important enhancements:

• Verification of payments received - including specific items within a given invoice for both fixed and subject based expenses.
  For example, following payment receipt for invoiced items, users can perform “batch” updates for individual items included in the payment, provide comments and track details about the funds received. These features help to identify expenses that are awaiting payment as well as items that were excluded and need further action.

• Issuing holdback payments - including multi-visit payments and inclusion within routine or end-of-study invoice actions.
  For example, sites may opt to invoice sponsors final holdback fees as data scrubbing activities occur for individual subjects, while sponsors may opt to manage holdback payments until the end of the study. CROs that manage site payments on behalf of sponsors may choose the best method per the payment workflow. Flexibility of these holdback features enable clients to ensure that all expenses for a given subject and site have been invoiced and/or paid per the study site contract.

• Inclusion of data status within calendared subject visits - including the ability to specify data entry progress for a given visit with displays for the associated subject payment.
  For example, study coordinators or data managers can update the subject visit record when they have completed the necessary CRF actions that impact site payments. This feature enables clinical and data management team members to track the subject details in one place to facilitate the payment actions that are managed by the finance team members in the payments area.

As we continue to develop new features for the SimpleTrials CTMS toolkit, we are happy to get feedback from our thoughtful users.  It strengthens our commitment to providing helpful tools that are enjoyable and easy to use. To learn more, join one of our upcoming webinars!