Medidata Initiates EConnect Program For Data Integration

Medidata Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:MDSO) recently introduced Medidata eConnect Partner Program, a ‘collaborative initiative’ for easy and seamless integration of healthcare data from the electronic health records (EHRs), electronic medical records (EMRs), and clinical trial electronic source data (eSource) systems with the help of Medidata Clinical Cloud.

eConnect is an industry-leading data capture platform, which aims to provide ‘openness and interoperability’ while capturing patient-data, using Medidata’s cloud technologies. Notably, eSource providers like Clinical Ink, Clinical Research IO, Foundry Health and BreezeCTMS have joined the program. These providers are poised to leverage from Medidata’s Rave Web Services API and the single sign-on capabilities solutions to connect their systems to the Medidata Clinical Cloud.

Per management, lack of integration between EHRs, EMRs and other eSource systems result in increased workload in investigative sites, causing operational inefficiencies and lower productivity. Notably, the latest development is the first commercially available program to put a check on such issues and address the problem of ‘swivel chair interoperability’, a double-data entry practice which delays collecting and cleaning of data.

The eConnect partner program is also expected to enhance data adoption standards, which have been established by the Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium (CDISC) – a non-profit organization which eases and automates R&D processes.

Meanwhile, Medidata represents a strong one-year return of 20.8%, compared to the S&P 500’s 4.4% over the same time frame. However, shares fell almost 1.9% to close at $54.36, following the eConnect program news.

Our Take

Of the recent developments at Medidata, the strategic collaboration with Tokyo-based Nobelpharma and France-based Erytech Pharma is notable. In this regard, Nobelpharma has adopted the Medidata Clinical Cloud to strengthen its efforts to deliver innovative treatments to patients with unmet medical needs.

The clinical cloud platform of the company is expected to gain more prominence in the market, taking the recent global trends into consideration. Notably, a report by the Bio-IT World reveals that the global market for the Electronic Health Records is expected to reach a worth of $23.98 billion in 2020, growing at a CAGR of 6.4% – a key growth catalyst for Medidata.

Key Picks

Medidata currently holds a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Other favorably ranked stocks in the broader medical space include Cogentix Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ:CGNT) , CryoLife Inc. (NYSE:CRY) and IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX) . Notably, IDEXX Laboratories and Cogentix sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) while CryoLife has a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Cogentix Medical registered a positive earnings surprise of 100% in the last reported quarter. Notably, the company has a solid one-year return of roughly 73.7%.

CryoLife has a stellar one-year return of roughly 90.7%. In the last reported quarter, the company registered an impressive earnings surprise of 225%.

IDEXX Laboratories represents a solid one-year return of almost 67.8%. The company has a long-term expected growth rate of almost 14.96%.

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