A host of health tech startups and companies are advertising their apps and platforms as key solutions to improving diversity in clinical trials, promising to help researchers improve their outreach, enrollment, and retention — what one researcher calls a “modern-day gold rush.”
The Power platform focuses on breaking down medical jargon and helping users connect with trial sponsors nearby. Acclinate, meanwhile, touts a trust-building platform just for people of color and a cadre of specialists focused on outreach. Trial Library, among other tactics, pays clinicians to pre-screen patients for oncology trials, whether or not they get referred.
It’s a massive challenge to tackle. Clinical trials in the United States often leave out swaths of people who are non-white, non-male, non English-speaking, older, poorer, pregnant or lactating, and so on — which not only widens existing health disparities, but can also stall trials, costing billions and delaying research.
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