What are clinical trials?
Clinical trials are the primary means for physicians to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of new treatments. Revolutionary treatments, like pacemakers, would never have been approved by the FDA without having gone through rigorous clinical research studies. Today, pacemakers save over 9,000 lives per year.
Thousands of cardiac research clinical trials are conducted around the world each year as a way to offer the best and most current health care possible. The Medical Center of the Rockies Foundation's clinical research team actively conducts cardiac research in our facilities and works to match patients to the appropriate trials.
What does this mean to you as a potential volunteer?
Volunteers participate in a clinical trial for many different reasons. People with chronic or life-threatening diseases may seek clinical trials as a way to gain early access to promising new drugs. Some join for the extra attention they receive. Others take pride in assisting with the development of a new drug or device, bringing better health care to our community.
If you decide to participate in a clinical trial, your physician and a clinical research coordinator will speak with you about the trial before you give informed consent. They will discuss with you in an honest, straightforward manner exactly what the protocol involves, the potential side effects, the benefits and the patient's responsibility and commitment in the follow-up process.
Participating through the Medical Center of the Rockies Foundation
Our research team includes board-certified cardiologists from Heart Center of the Rockies and clinical research coordinators, who are all registered nurses with cardiology experience and dedicated exclusively to conducting clinical trials.
Clinical research protocols are carefully designed to protect the volunteers involved in the research process. The FDA prior to volunteer enrollment and throughout the trial reviews every protocol. An institutional review board (IRB) approves each protocol. The role of the IRB is to ensure that the patient's rights are protected; ensure that the informed consent lists all the information about the trial and to ensure the patient's safety.
Participation in a clinical trial is always voluntary and declining clinical research will never impact your heath care in the clinic.
Please contact us for more information.
Academic partnerships
As part of Poudre Valley Health System, Heart Center of the Rockies actively partners with Colorado State University in Fort Collins and other institutions to create many innovative public / private partnerships designed to create evidence-based, quality practices and protocol. Because of its commitment to dedicated resources, PVHS enjoys an academic approach to research that uniquely partners with physicians to create a culture of innovation.
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