PPD and Acurian, a provider of global patient enrollment and retention solutions and a subsidiary of PPD, introduced a new patient concierge service designed to make it easier for patients to participate in clinical trials and to help pharma and biopharma clients retain patients. 
  
The patient concierge service, initiated by PPD’s Rare Disease and Pediatric Center of Excellence, can be used in a variety of studies across all phases, therapeutic areas and indications. The company plans to introduce other services and capabilities to investigative sites and PPD Laboratories later in 2018.
 
The patient concierge serves as a single point of contact to guide a patient through trial participation and manage trial logistics. Concierges are assigned to patients for the duration of a study and check in with them regularly to better assess and address patient motivation, satisfaction, aimed at retaining the patient in the trial.
  
“We’re introducing this innovative concierge service to help patients navigate the complexity of clinical trials, while providing support designed to enable them to better understand trials and the trial process, participation logistics and technologies,” said Niklas Morton, senior vice president of site and patient access for PPD. “Our patient-centric service focuses on providing proactive trial guidance and an improved patient experience for individuals seeking life-changing treatments. This new service directly places the patient at the forefront of how we approach a trial.”