AI screening speeds enrollment in heart failure trials

A groundbreaking study published in JAMA by Mass General Brigham researchers demonstrates that Artificial Intelligence can dramatically speed up patient AI screening for clinical trial enrollment.

Their innovative AI-assisted screening tool significantly outperformed manual screening in determining eligibility and enrolling patients in a heart failure clinical trial.

The study, as reported by Medical Xpress, suggests that AI not only reduces costs compared to traditional screening methods but also accelerates research timelines, potentially giving patients faster access to life-saving treatments.

“Seeing this AI capability accelerate screening and trial enrollment this substantially in a real-world randomized trial is exciting,” said Samuel (Sandy) Aronson, Executive Director of IT and AI Solutions at Mass General Brigham Personalized Medicine.

“We look forward to using this capability to assist as many trials as we can.”

AI Screening vs. Human Screening

The study randomized 4,476 patients into two groups:

• Manual Screening – Research staff manually reviewed patient records.
• AI Screening – A generative AI tool called RECTIFIER (RAG-Enabled Clinical Trial Infrastructure for Inclusion Exclusion Review) assessed electronic health records (EHRs) to determine eligibility based on symptoms, medical history, and medications.

Results:

• AI screened 458 eligible patients, while the manual team screened only 284 patients.
• AI-enabled enrollment was nearly double that of the manual process (35 patients vs. 19).No signif
• icant racial, gender, or ethnic biases were found in AI-assisted selection.

Validating AI in Real Clinical Settings

The AI screening tool was initially tested in a proof-of-concept study published in NEJM AI, where it demonstrated higher accuracy than manual screening.

This latest research confirms its effectiveness in an active clinical setting, paving the way for AI-assisted screening across cancer trials, diabetes interventions, and beyond.

Dr. Alexander Blood, a cardiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, emphasized the potential for broader adoption: “By adjusting the eligibility criteria within RECTIFIER, we can apply AI screening to trials across multiple medical fields, improving efficiency and access to treatments.”

This study marks a major milestone in how AI can transform clinical trials, making them faster, more efficient, and cost-effective.

As AI continues to evolve, it could revolutionize medical research, ensuring that life-saving treatments reach patients sooner than ever before.