Online, interactive evaluation of research performance

Abstract

Medical and other research organizations, sites within those organizations, and physicians practicing at those sites register in an online database. The company providing the database posts a description of a clinical trial opportunity or other research opportunity. The company can search and match for physicians with research opportunities, or the physicians can browse the list of opportunities. Once it is determined who will perform the research and awarded a contract, performance data are collected at 30-day intervals over the life of the trial for computation of benchmarks. The benchmarks from one physician are compared anonymously to those from other physicians participating in the same opportunity.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system, comprising:
 a database server for (i) providing a user interface for capturing investigator and research site metrics for a plurality of research sites and a plurality of investigators who are participating in a clinical research trial, such metrics including at least one of time to first patient enrolled, total patients enrolled after the first 30 days, actual enrollment as a percentage of the enrollment goal, enrollment rate, screen failure rate, completion rate, per-patient budget, number of queries per patient, enrollment as a percentage of patients screened, and elapsed time from irb submission to irb approval, (ii) storing said collected investigator and research site metrics useful at least for calculating benchmarking information regarding the conduct of said clinical research trial; and (iii) calculating said benchmarking information for each of said plurality of investigators and each of said plurality of clinical research sites participating in said clinical research trial using said collected investigator and research site metrics for said clinical research trial, said benchmarking information comprising information comparing each of said plurality of clinical research sites and each of said plurality of investigators to all clinical research sites and all investigators participating in said clinical research trial; and   a communication server, in communication with said database server, for providing a user interface for communicating some or all of said calculated benchmarking information to one or more of said plurality of investigators and one or more of said plurality of clinical research sites, said calculated benchmarking information being available after said investigator and research site metrics are received by said database server.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the benchmarking information comprises investigator and research metrics continually received by said database server during the clinical research trial. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the benchmarking information further comprises investigator and research site metrics received by said database server at a beginning of the clinical research trial, throughout the clinical trial, and at an end of the clinical research trial. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the benchmarking information comprises a comparison between the benchmarks of a variety of investigator and research site metrics for the clinical research trial and the benchmarks for other clinical research sites involved in the same clinical research trial. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the benchmarking information further comprises investigator and research site metrics received by said database server at a beginning of the clinical research trial, throughout the clinical trial, and at an end of the clinical research trial, aggregated for viewing by a sponsor or representatives of a sponsor. 
     
     
         6 . An article of manufacture comprising:
 a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium; and   instructions stored on the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, the instructions comprising:   (a) providing a user interface for collecting investigator and research site metrics on a database server for a plurality of research sites and a plurality of investigators participating in a clinical research trial, such metrics including at least one of time to first patient enrolled, total patients enrolled after the first 30 days, actual enrollment as a percentage of the enrollment goal, enrollment rate, screen failure rate, completion rate, per-patient budget, number of queries per patient, enrollment as a percentage of patients screened, and elapsed time from irb submission to irb approval;   (b) storing on said database server said collected investigator and research site metrics useful at least for calculating benchmarking information regarding conduct of said clinical research trial; and   (c) automatically calculating on said database server said benchmarking information for each of said plurality of investigators and each of said plurality of clinical research sites participating in said clinical research trial using said collected investigator and research site metrics for said clinical research trial, said benchmarking information comprising information comparing each of said plurality of clinical research sites and each of said plurality of investigators to clinical research sites and investigators participating in said clinical research trial.   
     
     
         7 . The article of manufacture of  claim 6 , wherein said instructions further comprise:
 (d) providing a user interface for communicating some or all of said calculated benchmarking information to one or more of said plurality of investigators and one or more of said plurality of clinical research sites, said calculated benchmarking information being viewable after said collected investigator and research site metrics are received by said database server.   
     
     
         8 . The article of manufacture of  claim 7 , wherein said collected investigator and research site metrics stored on said database server comprise metrics received by said database server at multiple times during the clinical research trial in order to update the calculated benchmarking information. 
     
     
         9 . The article of manufacture of  claim 8 , wherein said collected investigator and research site metrics stored on said database server comprise metrics received at regular time intervals during the clinical research trial updated at any time once the clinical research trial has begun, and wherein updated benchmarking information is viewable automatically as the benchmarking information is updated throughout the duration of the clinical research trial. 
     
     
         10 . The article of manufacture of  claim 9 , wherein said collected investigator and research site metrics stored on said database server comprise metrics received at a beginning of the clinical research trial, intervals throughout the clinical research trial, and at an end of the clinical research trial, aggregated for viewing by a sponsor or representatives of a sponsor. 
     
     
         11 . The article of manufacture of  claim 9 , wherein said collected investigator and research site metrics stored on said database server further comprise metrics received at a beginning of the clinical research trial, intervals throughout the clinical research trial, and at an end of the clinical research trial. 
     
     
         12 . The article of manufacture of  claim 6 , wherein the benchmarking information comprises a comparison between the benchmarks of a variety of collected investigator and research site metrics for the clinical research trial of one clinical research site to other clinical research sites involved in the same clinical research trial. 
     
     
         13 . A method, comprising the steps of:
 (a) providing a user interface for collecting investigator and research site metrics on a database server for a plurality of research sites and a plurality of investigators participating in a clinical research trial, such metrics including at least one of time to first patient enrolled, total patients enrolled after the first 30 days, actual enrollment as a percentage of the enrollment goal, enrollment rate, screen failure rate, completion rate, per-patient budget, number of queries per patient, enrollment as a percentage of patients screened, and elapsed time from irb submission to irb approval;   (b) storing on said database server said collected investigator and research site metrics useful at least for calculating benchmarking information regarding conduct of said clinical research trial; and   (c) automatically calculating on said database server said benchmarking information for each of said plurality of investigators and each of said plurality of clinical research sites participating in said clinical research trial using said collected investigator and research site metrics for said clinical research trial, said benchmarking information comprising information comparing each of said plurality of clinical research sites and each of said plurality of investigators to clinical research sites and investigators participating in said clinical research trial.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 (d) providing a user interface for communicating some or all of said calculated benchmarking information in real time to one or more of said plurality of investigators and one or more of said plurality of clinical research sites, said calculated benchmarking information being viewable immediately after said collected investigator and research site metrics are received by said database server.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein said collected investigator and research site metrics stored on said database server comprise metrics received by said database server at multiple times during the clinical research trial in order to update the calculated benchmarking information. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein said collected investigator and research site metrics stored on said database server comprise metrics received at regular time intervals during the clinical research trial updated at any time once the clinical research trial has begun, and wherein updated benchmarking information is viewable automatically as the benchmarking information is updated throughout the duration of the clinical research trial. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein said collected investigator and research site metrics stored on said database server comprise metrics received at a beginning of the clinical research trial, intervals throughout the clinical research trial, and at an end of the clinical research trial, aggregated for viewing by a sponsor or representatives of a sponsor. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein said collected investigator and research site metrics stored on said database server further comprise metrics received at a beginning of the clinical research trial, intervals throughout the clinical research trial, and at an end of the clinical research trial. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the benchmarking information comprises a comparison between the benchmarks of a variety of collected investigator and research site metrics for the clinical research trial of one clinical research site to other clinical research sites involved in the same clinical research trial.