PPD, Inc. announced it has launched an online portal linking clinical trial participants with biopharmaceutical companies, physicians, and healthcare resources to enhance patient connectivity and improve retention in clinical trials.

PPD PatientView is a secure online technology empowering clinical trial participants to view, share, and electronically archive medical information related to their illness, enabling them to play a more active role in managing their health and actively engaging them throughout the duration of a clinical trial.

"Regulatory agencies are requiring longer, more complex clinical studies, increasing the likelihood of patients leaving a clinical study before it's completed," said Mike Wilkinson, executive vice president and chief information officer for PPD. "The loss of patients during a trial can lead to increased costs and delay the trial's completion. PPD PatientView empowers patients by enabling better communication with the study team, better connectivity with study activities and better access to information about their individual disease."

PPD PatientView is customizable, allows patients online access to valuable health information, and is a convenient way to stay in continual contact with the trial registry and monitoring program. The portal leverages Microsoft HealthVault, a personal health application platform that lets consumers gather, store and share health information online.

PPD PatientView is a part of PPD® Adaptive Solutions, the suite of integrated technology solutions that PPD deploys to meet each client's needs in advancing their research initiatives. PPD and Microsoft have announced plans to jointly implement a technology solution to improve efficiency in managing U.S. Food and Drug Administration-mandated Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) programs. PPD also was recognized on the 2010 InformationWeek 500, a list of the nation's most innovative users of business technology.