Product Updates

Executive Summary  Florence uses AI in a safe and controlled way.  Florence does not use AI to generate messages to patients; this removes the risk of hallucination and other typical AI safety concerns.  Our architecture combines: deterministic, validated Protocols that decide the next best action (message sent to a patient, notification sent to the care team); with  LLM-based Patient Intent Interpreter that determines the intent of each patient message and passes it to the Protocols. The configuration of all of Florence’s actions is 100% controlled by our customer’s clinical team. Florence is not a typical conversational AI chatbot.  The LLM is used only to interpret incoming messages. No PHI is shared with the LLM. This protects patient privacy. You can view a brief video explaining our safe-AI architecture HERE.Typical AI Safety Concerns   These are the main safety concerns raised by Chief Medical Officers and compliance teams: Regulatory compliance, including HIPAA and state privacy laws, and protection of PHI and PII. Hallucination: LLM can generate incorrect or fabricated responses. Lack of control and transparency risk: Clinicians and risk officers are wary of black-box systems. They want to understand how the system responds to patients reporting high blood pressure, side effects from the drugs, or that they can’t afford their medication. Unreliable longitudinal execution and drift: LLMs are not designed to manage structured, multi-step care pathways over months. They struggle with state tracking and protocol adherence, which leads to drift. Proven use at scale: Has the system managed large patient cohorts across conditions without safety incidents?  

Clinical research is all about collaboration and Research Revolution is networking gold: professionals from across the clinical trial industry can come together to innovate, interact, and learn with and from each other.But not everyone is able to travel with their team. Whether you’re coming to Research Revolution on your own or with your colleagues, there are so many valuable ways to connect with other research professionals.Know Your Networking Goals Before You ArriveNetworking is an art, not a science, but here are some ways to make the most of your time surrounded by some of the best and brightest minds in clinical trials:Find someone with a title you’ve always been curious about and sit near them in the Debate and Discussion session! It’ll be a great way to hear their thoughts in real time – and share some of your own. Ever wanted to ask Dr. Robert Califf a question? Or been curious about how Merck handles diversity in clinical trials? When you attend those sessions you’ll be perfectly placed to chat with others who have the same questions. What better way to strike up a conversation? Hear from Ryan Jones, Anthony Costello, and Andy Corts as they explore how an integrated ecosystem can accelerate drug development, enhance compliance, and dramatically expand research capacity Meet the IT genius who made platform integration look easy Discover what the innovation leaders are secretly working on nextPre-Event Preparation: Do Your HomeworkCheck out the Attendee List Check out the agenda for the conference and research our guest speaker bios Pick 5-10 people you actually want to meet Hit up their LinkedIn—recent wins or challenges make great conversation startersTell others you’re going too!Let your peers know that you’ll be attending #RR too! Download the custom templates and repost to your socials. Plan smart, not hardMix formal sessions with casual hangout time to get to know others better Check out one of the themed wellness activations with a new friend!Your #ResearchRevolution Networking MapWe’re planning some exciting ways for you to connect this year and here’s a sneak peek of what you can look forward to:Florence CornerThink of it as a home base. Pop by early to see what’s happening in the User Community and Site Enablement League. These connections stick around after the conference.Bamboozle GameshowTrust us on this one. Shared laughs and instant connections. Don’t skip the fun stuff, it’s where the best conversations happen. Swag Wall & FlokensTrading tokens is basically networking training wheels. Perfect for testing out your elevator pitch in low-pressure situations.Wellness ThemesFree massages (yes, really) from The NOW Buckhead Spa and gym access Stretch sessions between the heavy stuff Morning yoga on the outdoor terrace

In clinical research, time isn’t just money – it’s hope. And in many cases, it’s survival. Every delay in getting a clinical trial off the ground means patients wait longer for potentially life-saving treatments. One of the biggest culprits behind these delays? Contracts.  Florence Healthcare recently hosted a powerful webinar featuring Catherine Gregor, Chief Clinical Trial Officer at Florence; Tara Rabe, Research Administrator at Mayo Clinic; and Jim Wagner, CEO and Co-Founder of The Contract Network. Their conversation revealed how AI is not just streamlining contracts – but transforming clinical trial timelines and, by extension, patient outcomes.  The Contract Bottleneck: A Known Villain Clinical trial agreements (CTAs) are infamous for dragging down startup timelines. “Besides IRB and regulatory approvals, contracts were always a major contributor to delays,” Catherine shared. With manual processes and backlogs exacerbated by workforce constraints, the industry average negotiation time now tops 90 days – second only to nuclear energy agreements, according to recent reports.  For Tara at Mayo Clinic, the situation was even more dire. “There was a time where it would take us six to nine months to negotiate a CTA,” she admitted. “That’s embarrassing.” With over 6,500 agreements per year and a lean team, something had to give.  Fixing the Foundation First Before jumping into automation or AI, Tara’s team had to overhaul their entire process. “You cannot automate a broken process,” she stressed. The team realigned their workflows so that IRB, budget, and contracts began simultaneously rather than sequentially. They fostered collaboration across departments, improved visibility into bottlenecks, and leveraged master agreements and ACTA templates where possible.  Only once their processes were optimized did they bring in AI.  “Humans plus AI deliver better results.” – Tara Rabe, Research Administrator at Mayo Clinic  Enter AI: A Game-Changer for Clinical Contracts With The Contract Network, Tara’s team set bold goals: reduce CTA review times by 25% by mid-2025, and hit a 50% reduction by the end of that year. They achieved the latter in just four months.  Using AI, Mayo now automates redlines, identifies past precedent agreements in seconds, and provides new staff with guided learning based on real-world examples. Negotiators no longer start from scratch; they start from insight.  And it’s working. “We went from six to nine months per CTA to 25 days,” Tara shared. “And I still think we can do better.”  It’s Not About Replacing Humans – It’s About Empowering Them The fear that AI might replace jobs surfaced early in the process. “There was a lot of concern: ‘Is this going to take over my job?’” Tara recalled. But the results proved otherwise. AI took care of the repetitive, low-value tasks, allowing experts to focus on what really matters: critical clauses like subject injury and indemnification.  As Jim noted, “Humans plus AI deliver better results.” And better still, staff embraced the change. In a recent internal survey, 71% reported saving one to three hours per agreement.  “There’s a patient on the end of these agreements.” Tara Rabe, Research Administrator at Mayo Clinic  The Emotional Payoff: Saving Time, Saving Lives While speed and efficiency are great KPIs, the real impact is measured in lives. Tara shared a moving email from a principal investigator who was able to enroll a patient in a critical trial thanks to the faster contracting timeline. “This is really my why,” she said, visibly emotional. “There’s a patient on the other end of these agreements.”  That patient would have missed their opportunity in a six-month contract cycle. In a 25-day one? They got their chance.  The Takeaway: Process First, Then Technology, Then Transformation For organizations eyeing AI for clinical trial operations, the message is clear: fix your processes first. Then invest in the right tools. And don’t forget the human side—both the teams using the tech and the patients waiting for the results.  As Catherine summed it up, “Even if you never touch a patient, the work that you do will touch a patient. That’s what keeps us going.”