Medpedia Launches New Clinical Trial Platform
Pushing Relevant Clinical Trial Info Out to Web in Proper Context
SAN FRANCISCO, CA (February 3, 2010) - The Medpedia Project today announced Medpedia Clinical Trials, a platform for patients and physicians to receive information about the thousands of clinical trials that are in process or about to begin. Other online sources already allow for searching clinical trials, but the Medpedia platform allows clinical trial information to be "pushed" or fed automatically to appropriate contexts. For instance, trial information can show up alongside a Medpedia article covering the same condition, it can appear in a personalized feed of someone interested in that condition, or in a patient community related to that condition. This free resource is available now on Medpedia at http://www.medpedia.com/clinical-trials
Thousands of people benefit from participating in clinical trials each year and millions benefit from others' participation. But the biggest barrier to completing studies is that not enough people take part in them. According to industry statistics presented to the IOM Drug Forum in October 2009, between 50 and 75 percent of trials miss their recruiting targets resulting in cost overruns or canceled trials. By creating tools that make it easier for patients, caregivers and clinicians to find relevant trials, and by raising awareness of existing trials in context, potential treatments can be tested faster and more efficiently and reach those patients that need them most
"Clinical trials are among the most important of tools for advancing biomedical knowledge, and improving the human condition. But for this to happen, the trials must successfully recruit their participants, and awareness of the trials must be effectively disseminated," said Dr. David L. Katz MD, MPH, Director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine. "All too often, these requirements are rate limiting. In its customarily user-friendly manner, Medpedia is helping to resolve this problem with its clinical trial finder. This tool should serve doctors and patients alike, helping to get important trials done, and helping to spread the word about important findings as they come in."
Medpedia Clinical Trials updates every 24 hours from the data on ClinicalTrials.gov, a registry of federally and privately supported clinical trials conducted in the United States and around the world. The search results provide details on a trial's purpose, who may participate, locations, and contact information. The ClinicalTrials.gov database is overseen by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and is the largest clinical trials database, holding registrations from over 80,000 trials from more than 170 countries in the world
The Medpedia platform also includes a collaborative online medical encyclopedia, a Professional Network and Directory for health professionals and organizations, and Communities of Interest in which medical professionals and non-professionals can share information about conditions, treatments, lifestyle choices, etc. Other parts of the Medpedia platform include Medpedia Answers for asking and answering medical and health questions; Medpedia Alerts for displaying real-time medical and health news alerts; and Medpedia News & Analysis for sharing medical news and analysis
Since the announcement of The Medpedia Project in February 2009, thousands of people have become a part of the community and thousands of physicians, researchers, organizations and experts have contributed to the knowledge base.
About The Medpedia Project
The Medpedia Project is a long-term, worldwide project to evolve a new model for sharing and advancing knowledge about health, medicine and the body among medical professionals and the general public. This model is founded on providing a free online technology platform that is easy to understand, collaborative, interdisciplinary, transparent, and that elevates the best medical information on the Web. The result of this effort will be to transform how both medical professionals and the general public acquire information about health and connect with each other.
Harvard Medical School, the Stanford School of Medicine, The University of Michigan Medical School, the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, and health organizations around the world have collaborated with Medpedia. Many organizations have contributed seed content free of copyright restrictions. Other organizations, such as University of Michigan Medical School, are encouraging members of their faculty to edit the Medpedia encyclopedia. See other health and medical organizations that are supporting Medpedia
Medpedia.com, Inc. is funded and managed by Ooga Labs (www.oogalabs.com) a technology greenhouse in San Francisco.
Medpedia Disclaimer
The content on or accessible through Medpedia.com is for informational purposes only. Medpedia is not a substitute for professional advice or expert medical services from a qualified health care professional. Organizations associated with Medpedia are not responsible for the content that appears in the editable pages of Medpedia, which can contain content submitted by other health professionals or other persons, including those who may not be affiliated with these organizations.