Why Clinical Trial Data Standards Matter
Summary
When the data submitted in a report fails to accurately support a study’s findings due to deficiencies in quality and integrity, it can set an organization back months in terms of work and analysis progress. Over the past 15 years, the FDA and clinical trial industry have worked closely to make significant progress in promoting, adopting, and developing data standards. Developed by subject matter experts, these standards allow efficient information sharing and provide quality assurance, preserving and improving data integrity within a clinical trial from start to finish. Despite the amount of effort it takes to develop and implement these standards nationwide, the benefits of doing so vastly outweigh the other option - remaining scattered and disconnected, resulting in unusable data and wasted resources. Implementing industry standards at the base of their day-to-day operations will allow organizations to avoid unnecessary work when it comes time to submit studies, and will assist in creating and collecting quality data and results.