Microsoft, National Minority Quality Forum launch trial network

The National Minority Quality Forum has launched a collaboration between its National Health Index (NHI) and Microsoft to launch the National Clinical Trial Network (NCTN) designed to address challenges in clinical trials.

The relationship allows NCTN to deliver a platform that provides a database of clinical trial options to providers.

The network also will be a data warehouse (patient registries, bio banks and community-level health statistics), transforming isolated data repositories into an integrated, searchable, national archive, permitting the identification of representative samples of risk populations who might benefit from a proposed therapy.

NCTN said it will maintain searchable profiles of clinical research institutions, experienced clinical investigators and those interested in being a clinical researcher. Its investigator registry will provide background information on investigators, their practices and the communities that they serve.