Clinical Trials - OPN Healthcare

Providing access to clinical trials for oncology patients in the community setting is an integral component of OPN’s comprehensive platform for cancer care.

OPN is dedicated delivering a clinical trials program which provides patients with access to promising new treatments in the community setting. By giving community oncology patients a streamlined approach to participating in these trials, new and innovative therapies can be utilized that would normally not be available to such patients, especially ones that come from underserved communities.

OPN helps identify and direct patients with serious and life-threatening cancer into appropriate trials by providing access to clinical trials open and accruing at OPN and studies offered through partnerships with leading academic medical centers. OPN has exclusive use of AnovaOS^TM, a technology-driven platform that changes the way research is conducted from one where OPN activates clinical trials in the hope of identifying patients to one that opens studies for OPN patients in need.

Opportunities for Everyone in the Community

Payers will also see direct benefits from clinical trial opportunities as these programs result in lower costs and improved outcomes. Oncology patients can have improved outcomes when they participate in clinical trials due to more regular medical monitoring and physician engagement. These outcomes also stem from the improvements in our understanding of cancer, advances in the manufacture of targeted treatments, and the structured nature of clinical trials. OPN is able to offer its patients an opportunity to participate in extremely promising oncology research with the advantage of receiving some of the most cutting-edge treatments available.

OPN has a long roster of oncology related clinical trials that it sponsors or manages. These leading edge studies offer the opportunity for OPN partners to take advantage of these unique treatment opportunities.

Active Clinical Trials

OPN helps research sites proactively address issues that can delay site startup

Delays in clinical development of new treatments are in part due to the conduct of its research studies. On average, 66% of all studies performed are delayed for 2.7 months and 39% report that site selection is the principal delay. Most study sites accrue zero or only one patient. OPN can provide administrative infrastructure to support early and later phase clinical trials being conducted in the local community. This reduces clinical startup costs and provides physician clients with early access to innovative therapies. In addition, coordinated access to patient populations across community practices facilitates study enrollment and minimizes interruptions.

Innovative Partnerships

OPN’s own clinical trial program has been successful bringing new study opportunities to community oncologists, but no one program will have access to all applicable studies. By building bridges to those programs that offer a wide range of promising new therapies, OPN will offer the best opportunities for patients who are seeing network oncologists.

This is part of a much larger effort by OPN to grow clinical trial access for the beneficiaries of its payer clients. Accessibility is imperative when it comes to community oncology. In the same way that patients need care where they live and work, they should also have access to promising new treatments. This is why it is an OPN priority to develop clinical trial relationships with major academic institutions as a way to expand access and availability to all of our community oncology practices. OPN has relationships with leading academic research institutions including UCI Health and the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center.

OPN’s Tested Advantages

Rapid Identification of Research Sites and Patients

OPN accelerates development through rapid site identification and matching. Potential studies are matched to the most qualified sites. When studies are opened, OPN’s data platform and experienced clinical trial navigators help identify and track potential patients alongside treating oncologists and trial sponsors.

Catalogue of Quality Sites for Research

OPN collects site specific information and qualifications, provides each site with regulatory materials, provides education and training to the sites, and establishes contracts with ancillary service providers.

Streamlined Management of Research Studies

For drug developers, efficiency and effectiveness of information processes can directly impact their speed and ability to open studies and enroll patients. OPN provides sites in the network study start-up services, regulatory support (including IRB submissions, amendments and continuing review) and billing services that accurately reflect pre-approved, contracted budgets.

OPN is committed to helping drug developers control clinical trial costs with pre-negotiated ancillary service provider rates, invoiceable costs and coordinated accrual. The entire process is also streamlined through orders that match sponsor protocols and allow physicians to focus on patient care, patient safety, and collecting quality data.

Compassionate Use

As part of its clinical trials program, OPN is committed to providing community oncology patients with access to promising new treatments through compassionate use. People with serious or life-threatening cancers who have exhausted FDA approved options may benefit from investigational treatments that are still under study. Clinical trials often enroll patients who are selected to be healthy. This can result in some patients being excluded from traditional clinical trials. OPN believes an important part of drug development is learning about how real-life patients in the community respond to new treatments. Compassionate use provides hope for patients in need, information to biopharmaceutical companies developing important treatments and value to third party payers.