A leading Clinical Research Organization (CRO) approached Onward Assist with a specific operational requirement: its laboratory workflow needed to support the complexities of clinical research studies rather than operate through a conventional case-based model.

Traditional case management was not sufficient for the organization’s research environment, where multiple specimens, activities, observations, and workflows needed to be managed in the context of a single study. The CRO needed a solution that could provide greater structure, visibility, and control across the complete study lifecycle.

The Challenge

Clinical research workflows differ significantly from routine diagnostic workflows. Instead of managing individual cases in isolation, CRO teams work with studies that involve multiple subjects, specimens, processes, users, and study-specific requirements.

The organization needed to:

• Organize laboratory activities around studies rather than individual cases
• Maintain a clear relationship between studies, subjects, specimens, and activities
• Support different workflows and requirements across research studies
• Improve visibility into study progress and laboratory operations
• Reduce dependency on manual processes and fragmented information
• Provide a scalable foundation for managing increasing study volumes

The requirement was therefore not simply to digitize an existing workflow, but to adapt the laboratory platform to the way a CRO actually operates.

The Onward Assist Approach

Onward Assist worked closely with the organization to understand its laboratory and research workflows and introduced a Study Management approach within the platform.

Instead of making the case the primary unit of workflow, the solution placed the study at the centre of laboratory operations.

From Case-Centric to Study-Centric

Traditional Approach

Case → Activities → Results → Report

CRO Study Approach

Study → Subjects → Specimens → Activities → Analysis → Results → Reports

This shift provided a more natural representation of clinical research operations and enabled laboratory teams to manage their work within the broader context of each study.

Managing the Complete Study Context

With Study Management, laboratory teams can work with the complete study context rather than treating every laboratory activity as an independent case.

Studies can serve as the central framework for organizing relevant information, workflows, and activities. This enables teams to maintain relationships between the different entities involved in a research program while providing greater visibility into the progress of individual studies.

The approach also provides the flexibility needed to accommodate different study designs, laboratory workflows, and operational requirements without forcing research processes into a conventional diagnostic case model.

Enabling a More Flexible Laboratory Workflow

The implementation allowed the CRO to align its laboratory workflow with its operational model.

Rather than adapting research processes to a case-centric system, the platform could support the organization’s existing study-oriented way of working.

This created a foundation for:

• Study-Level Organization : Centralizing laboratory activities and information around individual research studies.
• Workflow Flexibility : Supporting different processes and requirements across studies.
• Improved Traceability : Maintaining relationships between studies, subjects, specimens, activities, and outcomes.
• Operational Visibility : Giving teams a clearer view of work progressing across each study.
• Scalability : Providing a workflow model that can support expanding research programs and increasing study volumes.

The Impact

The transition to a study-centric workflow enabled the organization to better align its digital laboratory operations with the realities of clinical research.

Instead of viewing laboratory work as a collection of independent cases, teams could manage activities within the larger context of each research study.

This helped establish a more structured and scalable workflow while reducing the gap between laboratory operations and the broader clinical research process.

Key Outcomes

• Study-Centric Workflow : Laboratory activities can be organized around studies rather than individual cases.
• Better Workflow Visibility : Teams gain greater visibility into activities and progress across studies.
• Improved Traceability : Relationships between study elements can be maintained throughout the workflow.
• Greater Operational Flexibility : Different study requirements can be accommodated within the workflow.
• Scalable Foundation : The study management model provides a foundation for supporting growing CRO operations.

The Transformation

Building the Future of CRO Laboratory Workflows

Clinical research organizations require laboratory technology that can adapt to the complexity of research studies. By extending its workflow capabilities beyond traditional case management, Onward Assist enables organizations to adopt a study-centric operating model designed around the needs of modern CRO workflows.

The result is a more flexible, traceable, and scalable digital laboratory environment—one that connects laboratory operations with the broader context of clinical research studies.

Onward Assist
Enabling intelligent digital pathology and laboratory workflows for the future of research and diagnostics.

Customer Perspective

“Onward Assist enabled us to move beyond a traditional case-based laboratory workflow and adopt a study-centric approach aligned with the way our clinical research operations actually work.”

— Clinical Research Organization