DGI Clinical is a boutique Contract Research Organization (CRO) developing tools for patient-centered research and care. The company builds and validates software systems for pharmaceutical companies to use in individualized patient-centered research. Based in Halifax, N.S., DGI has been operating for over 20 years and has undergone several iterations, from a focus on professional research services such as data analytics to licensed digital health and research products.
Their approach to patient-centric care and research is based on asking patients and caregivers what’s important to them and then tracking that over time to see if they’ve achieved their personal goals for their healthcare.
“If you do science and healthcare this way, by giving the reins to the patient or the caregiver, it actually improves their health outcomes in the end. I don’t know if it’s a lucky coincidence or the beauty of our business that our business purpose is directly aligned with a social purpose, but it’s a fantastic kind of marriage,” says Chère Chapman, CEO of DGI Clinical. “And the neat thing is that this isn’t something that we drummed up just because it’s good for society or just because it’s going to empower patients. It is because it has better health outcomes, and it’s also good for our business too.”
A great example of DGI Clinical’s purpose in action is their recently launched app SymptomGuide™ Alzheimer which allows caregivers to track their loved one’s symptoms, especially those symptoms most important to them. This helps facilitate the conversation between the caregiver, patient, other family members and clinicians. The app also provides dementia management strategies and other useful information to caregivers coping with the burden of this complex disease.