Exco InTouch, the leading provider of patient communication solutions for the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors, has been recognised for its tremendous strides in the delivery of electronic Patient Reported Outcomes (ePRO) solutions at the 2010 European Outsourcing Awards, held in Paris on 6 October 2010. Exco InTouch was honoured with the award for Most Innovative Relationship, in recognition of their collaborative study with The University of Queensland. The study focused on evaluating mobile phone technology for the collection of patient self-report data, using a Java based version of the WOMAC® (Western Ontario and McMaster Osteoarthritis) NRS 3.1 Index.  

Launched in 2005, the EOA awards are designed to recognize new and significant developments in contract services and reward successful companies for their outstanding contribution throughout the year.  Despite strong competition from multiple industry competitors, the EOA panel crowned Exco InTouch as winners based on the study's powerfully conclusive results that confirm the efficiency of mobile phone technology over traditional PRO collection methods. EOA judges were also impressed with the significant impact of the study on customer perceptions, with a high level of patients involved in the study rated as feeling ‘confident' that they would continue to report their symptom severity using ‘mobile' Patient Reported Outcomes technology. 

Traditional methods of data capture, such as paper based methods, are assumed to be cost effective; however they are often found to be unsuitable due to compliance and validity concerns. The aim of the collaborative study was to compare the effectiveness of patient self-reported outcome questionnaires completed on paper with those completed via a mobile phone using m-WOMAC®,  Exco InTouch's mobile phone version of the WOMAC® Index. The results of the study confirmed that mobile phone technology offers a more reliable means of data collection compared to traditional paper diaries, with the associated cost significantly reduced due to the removal of a data correction process which can be expensive and significantly increase timeframes. Furthermore the study found that compliance in data collection is significantly enhanced with participants in the study rating the use of the mobile phone as easy or very easy.  

Tim Davis, CEO of Exco InTouch, comments: "It is an honour to receive an award that recognises the progress achieved by the relationship between Exco in Touch and The University of Queenland. Together we have delivered a mobile phone platform for osteoarthritis that improves business performance by ensuring data accuracy, speed and integrity when collecting patient data, as well as confirming that the electronic collection of data from patients provides unique opportunities for using quantitative measurement in clinical practice and research. This assessment is just one of the comprehensive Exco InTouch portfolio of mobilePRO diaries and therapy-specific instruments and the award is a wonderful independent commendation for our philosophy that different ePRO methodologies are appropriate for specific study demographics, geographies and patient populations."  

For further information on the Exco InTouch range of solutions, please call +44 1279 408 210 or +1 949 725 2946 or visit www.excointouch.com