by Abbe Steel, CEO, HealthiVibe LLC

Arlington, VA, May 4, 2015 — We’ve come a long way in a year.

This April marks the one-year anniversary of HealthiVibe.  We set out to create a brand new kind of company, one dedicated to bringing the voice of patients, caregivers and advocacy groups to the clinical design process.   We’ve met that challenge in the past twelve months, and learned a great deal in the process.

A Variety of Exchanges

We’ve spoken with thousands of patients in over a dozen countries on a variety of projects, including global surveys, focus groups, one-on-one interviews, advisory boards, mock trial simulations and patient testimonial videos. We have also created study materials and tools to help make clinical trials more patient friendly.

We’ve engaged in consulting projects to help pharma organizations structure their internal patient engagement teams and processes, and we’ve worked directly with patient advocacy groups to bring their voice to the table.

We’ve given people living with chronic conditions a platform to share their stories on our blog through our Patient Lens series.  Through social media posts, that platform has been amplified and shared with thousands, reaching a broad audience of not only other patients who can relate, but also those in pharma who are keen to understand life with a chronic condition.

We are Humbled

Through our work at HealthiVibe, we’ve been given the opportunity to meet face-to-face with patients to learn their stories.  While we’ve had the pleasure of interviewing hyper-engaged “uber patients,” we’ve also learned a lot from everyday patients who we’ve connected with through our online consumer survey panel of over 10 million individuals worldwide.

Working directly with real patients—with conditions ranging from lupus to Parkinson’s disease and everything in between—has been a profoundly humbling experience.  It has brought to light the struggles these patients face every day, as well as the opportunities our industry has to partner with patients to improve not only the clinical trial experience, but also improve overall patient outcomes.

On the Horizon

While we initially focused the business on capturing patient experiences early in the clinical trial design process, we also have discovered there is a lot to be learned from patients every step of the way. Throughout their journey and throughout a product’s lifecycle as well. We are pleased to announce the release of our newest product launch our Exit Surveys, a validated survey that will provide valuable feedback to sponsors.

Engaging patients at the end of a study to hear their views on what when right — and what went wrong – will help sponsors plan future clinical development programs and even make adjustments midstream to support current study efforts. We are very excited about the exit survey offering and the unique tablet devices that go along with them, to help sponsors better understand challenges patients may have faced as part of their trial participation and help create truly patient-centered trials of the future.

As we enter our second year, all of us at HealthiVibe remain committed to making sure the patient voice is heard.  But at the end of the day, it isn’t enough to hear that voice—we need to work together and follow through to bring patient-centricity into our culture and into our lives.

And finally, thank you! Thank you to our patient volunteers – our heroes – for participating in research studies and patient voice initiatives. And thank you to our clients who have worked with us to improve the lives of so many patients and sharing your commitment to putting patients first.