Epworth HealthCare launches Australia's first end-to-end electronic management system to streamline research studies

Epworth HealthCare is the first organization in Australia to go live with the Velos Research system infrastructure for the management of its clinical trials, ethics and governance of all research projects.

It is hoped the deployment will significantly free up research time by providing clearer visibility on compliance and patient safety whilst reducing administrative burdens associated with clinical trials.

International research institutions already utilising the technology platform includes The Mayo Clinic, Columbia University, Duke University and National Cancer Center in South Korea.

Epworth HealthCare became the first institution in Australia to apply the Velos System to all aspects of their research program, identifying innovative features of the platform and opportunities to deliver better research outcomes having worked with Velos for several years.

Epworth Group Manager of Finance and Operations, Alan Taylor, says Epworth HealthCare is committed to promoting research that translates directly to improvements in healthcare.

“Epworth saw value in having an end-to-end digital approach to both approving ethics for research and managing the research as it reduced duplication and manual handling and also provided us with a systematised ‘one stop shop’ for research.

“Epworth HealthCare first rolled out the Study Management and Patient Management components of Velos eResearch CTMS, Velos’ research system, in 2014. Since then, our experts in Ethics and Governance worked with Velos engineers to create a ‘tailored fit’ for ethics review and research management from an Australian perspective.

“This bespoke system began its rollout earlier this year, and now all Research Ethics and Governance at Epworth HealthCare will be managed using Velos.

“We have made a significant investment in digital automation of our research processes, to ensure regulatory compliance and to increase efficiency for patients and clinicians.

“Velos has been an excellent partner and has worked closely with us to develop a system suitable for the Australian clinical research environment. We believe that the Velos Research system deployed at Epworth Richmond is the first end-to-end electronic research management system in Australia with the Ethics and Governance platform on the front end and the Clinical Trials Management system at the back end connected by an automated flow of data.”

Velos Research platform features include:

• A centralised place for all Ethics and Governances (E&G) applications and submissions.
• A standard set of forms to be completed during the E&G process.
• Document storage and management.
• Application and Submissions status and alerts.
• Scheduled E&G monthly meetings can be better managed, including ensuring personnel complete assigned tasks.
• An automated interface to the downstream Clinical Trial Management System.

Mr. Suresh Kumar, GM of Velos Australia, says Velos is excited about the success of the rollout.

“The rollout in any institution is acutely dependent upon the quality of the management and the involvement and interest we get from leaders in the institution. On all these scores, Velos is delighted to find a partner in Epworth that is using Velos software in Australia to fully deliver on promises to the clinical research community.”

About Epworth HealthCare:

Epworth HealthCare is Victoria’s largest not-for-profit private healthcare group, renowned for excellence in diagnosis, treatment, care and rehabilitation. Epworth is an innovator in Australia’s health system, embracing the latest in evidence-based medicine to pioneer treatments and services for our patients. Epworth’s purpose is to improve the health, wellbeing and experience of every patient by integrating clinical practice with education and research and our vision is to consistently deliver excellent patient-centred care with compassion and dignity.

About Velos:

Velos is the trusted clinical trial management resource for investigators, sponsors and academic leaders throughout the world. Velos integrates the clinical, administrative and financial information needs of research management, with an emphasis on flexibility and workflow and empowering clinical innovation. Founded in 1996, Velos, Inc. is privately held with headquarters in Fremont, California. For more information, visit www.velos.com.