Instituut Verbeeten can launch studies months faster

Everything was neatly organized in folders on a hard drive. But sometimes, the radiation oncologists at Instituut Verbeeten spent too long searching for the right documents. ResearchManager’s Clinical Trial Management System (CTMS) changed that.

The specialized hospital Instituut Verbeeten provides radiation therapy for cancer patients, offers nuclear medicine care, and conducts clinical research. This includes studies on new therapies, technologies, and treatment strategies. With around 250 staff members, they treat 4,500 patients and conduct research on 7,000 patients annually.

Too Many Emails Back and Forth with Physicians
Before using ResearchManager, inefficient document management caused delays in research processes. Jorine Vermaire, research coordinator at Instituut Verbeeten, explains: “Our folder structure couldn’t have been simpler, yet radiation oncologists often asked for help. Where can I find that? Can you send this to me? They preferred to focus on patient care. Adding documents had to go through my colleague, resulting in a lot of back-and-forth emails and taking up a lot of time.”

Starting studies also didn’t go smoothly. “We have to go through different statuses, so we often received questions about progress. It was sometimes tracked in Excel or even on paper. There was no system where physicians could see the status, and starting studies took too long as a result.”

Including the Right Patient
Accurate information access is crucial for the institute. “With all the protocols in our work, it’s vital that everyone has the same up-to-date information. Otherwise, you might include the wrong patient or miss key details that could affect radiation therapy planning, which impacts patient care,” says Jorine. It was time for a better solution.

Jorine Vermaire, Research coördinator

Easier Data Sharing
To optimize their research process and improve patient care, Instituut Verbeeten now uses ResearchManager’s Clinical Trial Management System. Jorine says: “Through cancer networks and our collaboration with hospitals like Elisabeth-TweeSteden, Jeroen Bosch, and Amphia, we frequently heard the name ResearchManager. Since we exchange a lot of data, choosing the same system was an easy decision.”

Today, over 35 of Jorine’s colleagues, including physicians, the board, and administrative staff, work with ResearchManager. “They had to get used to it, but everyone is positive and happy with the clarity it provides. Logging in is also easy with single sign-on through our intranet page.”

All Documents and Progress in One Place
According to Jorine, the CTMS has reduced questions and increased clarity: “What I love is that all the documents are in one place. Everyone sees the same information. Colleagues have different access levels, and some can add documents or start studies themselves. They no longer need to email me.”

She mainly uses the status overviews: “Which phase is the study in? How far along is the other hospital, and do they have the same documents? Thanks to ResearchManager, we’re all on the same page. It’s also useful to keep track of costs because when working with pharmaceutical companies, budgets can get complicated.”

Ongoing Support from ResearchManager
The ResearchManager team helped Jorine set up and implement the CTMS. “We initially considered another provider, but their support stopped at one point. This kind of help is essential to me. Now I have monthly meetings with someone from ResearchManager to discuss questions and adjustments. Recently, they added the digital signing module for us, which is useful when documents need approval from the scientific committee or the board. They can log in themselves and give approval. It also shows a date, so you can always track when something was approved.”

Helping Patients Sooner
Jorine can’t imagine working without ResearchManager’s CTMS now, not just for the increased transparency, improved collaboration, and regulatory compliance: “Because the entire research process is more streamlined, we can sometimes launch studies months earlier and help patients sooner.”

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