METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR ALLOCATING REPRESENTATIVES TO SITES IN CLINICAL TRIALS
First Claim
1. A method for allocating a clinical research associate (CRA) to a clinical trial site, the method comprising:
- receiving CRA geographic information comprising a location for each of a plurality of CRAs;
receiving site geographic information comprising a location for each of a plurality of clinical trial sites;
receiving hub geographic information comprising a location for each of a plurality of transportation hubs;
determining a CRA hub for each of the plurality of CRAs based on the CRA geographic information and the hub geographic information, the CRA hub comprising at least one of the plurality of transportation hubs;
determining a site hub for each of the plurality of clinical trial sites based on the site geographic information and the hub geographic information, the site hub comprising at least one of the plurality of transportation hubs;
determining a plurality of segments using the hub geographic information, wherein each of the plurality of segments comprises factors associated with a route between at least two of the plurality of transportation hubs;
determining an allocation plan for at least one of the plurality of CRAs using the plurality of segments, the CRA hub, and the site hub; and
outputting the allocation plan.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and systems for allocating representatives, such as clinical research associates (CRAs), to sites. One embodiment comprises a method for allocating CRAs to sites by determining for each CRA the first segment travel time from a starting location to a first node associated with a CRA, and the second segment travel time from the first node to a plurality of second nodes, wherein each second node is geographically associated with a site, determining the third segment travel time from each second hub to its corresponding site(s), for each CRA determining the aggregate travel time to each site by adding at least the first, second and third travel segments, for at least some of the CRAs and at least some of the sites, evaluating the aggregate travel times between CRAs to each of the sites, and allocating a CRA to allocate to each site based in part on the travel times.
38 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A method for allocating a clinical research associate (CRA) to a clinical trial site, the method comprising:
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receiving CRA geographic information comprising a location for each of a plurality of CRAs; receiving site geographic information comprising a location for each of a plurality of clinical trial sites; receiving hub geographic information comprising a location for each of a plurality of transportation hubs; determining a CRA hub for each of the plurality of CRAs based on the CRA geographic information and the hub geographic information, the CRA hub comprising at least one of the plurality of transportation hubs; determining a site hub for each of the plurality of clinical trial sites based on the site geographic information and the hub geographic information, the site hub comprising at least one of the plurality of transportation hubs; determining a plurality of segments using the hub geographic information, wherein each of the plurality of segments comprises factors associated with a route between at least two of the plurality of transportation hubs; determining an allocation plan for at least one of the plurality of CRAs using the plurality of segments, the CRA hub, and the site hub; and outputting the allocation plan. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A method of allocating a plurality of clinical trial representatives to a plurality of clinical sites, comprising:
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a. receiving geographic information relating to a plurality of clinical trial representatives, geographic information relating to a plurality of clinical trial sites, geographic information relating to a plurality of nodes, and information relating to transportation carrier routes, service and travel times between pairs of nodes in said plurality of nodes; b. for each representative, determining; a first segment travel time from a starting location associated with the representative to at least a first node, wherein the first node is associated with the representative; a second segment travel time from the first node to each of a plurality of second nodes using the information relating to transportation carrier routes, service and travel times between nodes, wherein each of the plurality of second nodes corresponds to a site; a third segment travel time from each of the plurality of second nodes to its corresponding site; and an aggregate travel time to each of the sites by adding at least the first, second and third segment travel times; c. for at least some of the representatives and at least some of the sites; evaluating the aggregate travel times between representatives to each of the sites; and allocating a representative to each of the sites based at least in part on the determined aggregate travel times; and d. updating a clinical trial representative database with the selected allocations. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A system for allocating a plurality of clinical trial representatives to a plurality of clinical trial sites, the system comprising:
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a processor comprising an application and a CRA engine, the application adapted to receive information from an input device, the information comprising; geographic information data elements associated with a plurality of clinical trial representative attributes for a plurality of clinical trial representatives; a plurality of clinical trial site attributes for a plurality of clinical trial sites; a plurality of nodes; and information data elements related to transportation carrier routes, service and travel times between pairs of nodes in said plurality of nodes; a representative database for storing the plurality of data elements associated with the plurality of representative attributes for the plurality of representatives; a site database for storing the plurality of data elements associated with the plurality of site attributes for the plurality of sites; a local database for storing the plurality of data elements associated with the plurality of nodes and the plurality of data elements associated with transportation carrier routes, service and travel times between pairs of nodes in said plurality of nodes; wherein the CRA engine is adapted to determine an allocation of representatives based on data elements received from the representative database and site database by; receiving a request from the input device for allocation of representatives;
for each representative;determining a first segment travel time from a starting location associated with the representative to at least a first node, each of which first nodes is related to a representative; and determining a second segment travel time from the first node to each of a plurality of second nodes, using the data elements associated with transportation carrier routes, service and travel times between nodes; determining a third segment travel time from each of the plurality of second nodes to its corresponding site; and determining an aggregate travel time to each of the sites by adding at least the first, second and third segment travel times; for at least some of the representatives and at least some of the sites; evaluating the aggregate travel times between representatives to each of the sites; and allocating a representative to allocate to each of the sites based at least in part on the determined aggregate travel times; and outputting the selected allocations to an output device. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A computer-readable medium having computer executable instructions for:
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receiving a plurality of data elements associated with a plurality of clinical trial representative attributes for a plurality of clinical trial representatives; receiving a plurality of data elements associated with a plurality of clinical trial site attributes for a plurality of clinical trial sites; receiving a plurality of data elements associated with a plurality of nodes; receiving a plurality of data elements associated with a plurality of transportation carrier routes, service and travel times between pairs of nodes in said plurality of nodes; receiving a request for allocation of representatives; for each representative; determining a first segment travel time from a starting location associated with the representative to at least a first node, each of which first nodes is related to a representative; and determining a second segment travel time from the first node to each of a plurality of second nodes, each of which second nodes is geographically related to a site; determining a third travel time from each of the plurality of second nodes to its corresponding site; and determining an aggregate travel time to each of the sites by adding at least the first, second and third segment travel times; for at least some of the representative and at least some of the sites; evaluating the aggregate travel times between representatives to each of the sites; and allocating a representative to each of the sites based at least in part on the determined aggregate travel times; and outputting the selected allocations to an output device.
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20. A method comprising:
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receiving site airport locations, the site airport locations comprising an identification of a plurality of airports for which at least one clinical trial site eligible to conduct a clinical trial is located within a pre-set radius; receiving Clinical Research Associate (CRA) airport locations, the CRA airport locations comprising an identification of a plurality of airports for which at least one CRA is located within a pre-set radius; receiving a number of clinical trial sites to service associated with each of the site airport locations; receiving a number of CRAs associated with each of the site airport locations; determining CRA allocation for at least one CRA using a Transportation Problem algorithm, site airport locations, CRA airport locations, the number of clinical trial sites to service associated with each of the site airport locations, and the number of CRAs associated with each of the site airport locations; and outputting the CRA allocation. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23)
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Specification