Executing with Clinical Technology

In a recent video interview with Applied Clinical Trials, Rachael Higgins, chief commercial officer, PicnicHealth, discussed the company’s recently released 2025 Annual State of Observational Research Report. She highlighted some of the key findings including the persistence of more traditional research methods as well as how patient retention and incomplete data are creating challenges for the industry.

ACT: Looking forward, what do you think are the next steps for industry in closing the gap between the need for technology innovation and actually being able to execute with it?

Higgins: I think it all is going to come down to education and getting our customers comfortable with how new models actually work. It is embracing new technologies that are out there, perhaps it's doing a pilot or doing a softer launch of it, but that way to be able to see that. Number one, it's really not that scary. Number one, it's going to solve your data depth issue, it's going to solve your patient retention issue, it's going to solve your budget issues, just giving it a test trial, if you will. I think that that really is the only way that we're going to be able to do it. When I looked at the results of this report, I saw that 61% of them are already using some type of virtual model in AI, and to me, that's a huge opportunity, because, there's 40 something percent of them that haven't, but I think it's because they truly don't understand what they are, but being open to that, really understanding that there isn't just one way to do things, there are so many other ways to do that, to do what it is to get to your final outcome. Then also, I think, working with regulators, so that regulators become more and more comfortable with the ability to leverage AI and some of the other technologies to get to those endpoints as quickly as possible, to again bring medicines to patients, which is what we're looking to do.