ERT -- a provider of patient safety and efficacy data collection solutions for use in clinical drug development and healthcare settings -- said that its Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system, VIAPhone  has been approved by EuroQol to capture both the EQ-5D-3L and the EQ-5D-5L versions of the quality-of-life assessment.

Capturing Clinical Outcome Assessment (COA) data electronically avoids errors associated with manual data entry and inaccurate, incomplete, illegible or imaginary data. VIAPhone is one of ERT’s multiple electronic solutions designed to enhance the collection of clinical outcome assessment (COA) data in clinical research. The solution offers significant advantages over paper-and-pencil administration of the scale, including improvements in patient compliance, data quality and increased trial efficiencies.

“Being named a preferred provider verifies that the scientific foundation upon which our electronic COA solutions are built meets the high standards set by EuroQol,” Bob Young, executive vice president, COA Solutions, ERT said in a statement.

Established in 1987, The EuroQol Group aims to improve decisions about health and health care throughout the world by developing, promoting and supporting the use of instruments with the widest possible applicability for the measurement and valuation of health.

Developed by the group, the EQ-5D is a commonly used, standardized instrument for measuring health outcomes during the clinical development of new medical products. Both the EQ-5D-3L and EQ-5D-5L versions address health-related quality of life based on mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, and anxiety/depression.

The EuroQol Group chose ERT based on ERT’s established process for ensuring compliant and high-quality electronic implementations of this scale.

“We are pleased that ERT can now offer its customers a reliable option for capturing important health outcome information via IVR administration of the EQ-5D,” said Gerben Bakker, User Support Officer at EuroQol Group.

“This offering will enable biopharmaceutical researchers to evaluate whether patients’ health states are impacted by new medical treatments,” Bakker added.