Clinical research is a cornerstone of successful medical oncology practices, playing a vital role in advancing patient care. Clinical trials are integral to the treatment of cancer, often offering patients access to cutting-edge therapies years before they become commercially available.

These trials are not only for patients with limited options after exhausting standard treatments, but are also essential in delivering optimal care, even for those in the front-line setting. Practices engaged in clinical research are leaders in providing state-of-the-art care, setting them apart from their peers.

However, conducting clinical research has become increasingly challenging over the years. The rapid pace of developing new, safer, and more effective therapies benefits patients, but it also introduces significant hurdles to practices. Time pressures, expanding regulatory requirements, and narrowing patient eligibility criteria—requiring multiple trials where one might have sufficed previously—pose challenges for clinical investigators and their teams.

To address these obstacles, OneOncology has transformed its research network, OneR, into a full-service Site Management Organization (SMO). The goal of OneR is to alleviate the administrative burdens associated with participating in clinical research, allowing sites to concentrate on the patient-facing, clinical aspects where their expertise is most impactful.

OneR’s research management and administrative services are customized to meet each practice’s unique needs. The team is equipped to either support and enhance existing research infrastructures or assist in building a research program from the ground up. The process begins with a scientific review and trial placement. OneR research leaders meet weekly to assess potential trial leads, resulting in a nearly 265 percent increase in trial opportunities from the previous year. Once a trial is accepted, the OneR study start-up team, consisting of project managers, begins the process of activating the trial. This includes a feasibility analysis to confirm the practice has the appropriate patient population through OneAnalytics and collaboration with regulatory, contract, and budgeting teams to ensure rapid trial activation.

Quality and speed are at the heart of OneR’s SMO development, with significant investments made in both areas. OneR’s expanding quality team ensures that processes remain compliant, provides audit support, and enhances internal procedures through ongoing education and training for practice-based research staff. OneR also equips each site with a comprehensive research technology package, which includes Verily’s clinical trial management system and Florence’s regulatory binder. These technological solutions standardize core research operations across sites, reducing study activation times, supporting quality programs, and ensuring research finance and billing compliance.

OneOncology’s investment in OneR is already yielding significant results. In less than a year since the transformation into a full-service SMO, OneR has opened 8 times more trials than it had in the previous year. OneR is also reducing timelines, with the goal of opening late-phase trials within 12 weeks, and the number of sites joining the OneR platform continues to grow. However, this is just the beginning. In 2025, OneR expects to double the number of trials opened in 2024, ensuring access to the next generation of cutting-edge therapies across the entire OneOncology network.