Service ensures that clinicians are properly qualified, consistently trained and monitored throughout the life of a trial
RWS (RWS.L), a global AI solutions company, announces the launch of a new rater training, certification and retraining service designed specifically to improve data quality, consistency and reliability in central nervous system (CNS) clinical trials.
The new service helps pharmaceutical sponsors and clinical research organizations (CROs) reduce one of the biggest risks in CNS studies: variability in how clinical raters assess patients. Even small differences in rater judgment can significantly affect trial data, timelines and outcomes.
RWS’s CNS rater training service ensures that clinicians involved in patient assessments are properly qualified, consistently trained and monitored throughout the life of a trial. The service is designed for complex, global CNS programs, where long study durations, multiple assessment points and geographically dispersed teams increase the risk of inconsistent data.
“CNS trials are uniquely sensitive to rater variability,” said Dan Herron, Global Vice President, Digital Health, RWS. “This service is designed to help sponsors reduce noise in the data, maintain consistency over time, and protect the scientific integrity of their CNS studies – without adding operational complexity.”
As CNS trials become more global, decentralized and digitally enabled, challenges such as inconsistent onboarding, certification drift and uneven use of assessment tools have become harder to manage. These risks are often compounded by the use of electronic Clinical Outcome Assessment (eCOA) technologies across different regions and languages.
RWS addresses these challenges by combining specialist CNS scientific expertise with structured training design and secure, scalable digital delivery. The service supports the full rater lifecycle and aligns with protocol requirements, regulatory expectations and modern eCOA workflows.
Service features
The CNS rater training service includes:
- Rater qualification and eligibility review, based on CNS-specific experience and protocol-defined criteria.
- Customized, indication- and scale-specific training, developed by experts in CNS clinician-reported and rater-administered outcome measures.
- Digital certification and remediation workflows, with automated tracking and certificate issuance.
- Ongoing retraining and refreshers to reduce rater drift during long or multi-phase studies.
- Centralized tracking and reporting to support monitoring, inspections and audits.
Training can be delivered globally and in multiple languages – supported by RWS’s eLearning development, localization, multimedia and linguistic validation capabilities. The service is technology-agnostic and can be used alongside any eCOA platform, ensuring consistent rater training regardless of how endpoint data is collected.
The launch expands RWS’s portfolio of CNS-focused solutions for life sciences organizations, supporting the clinical content and data lifecycle – from outcome assessment strategy and licensing to training, localization and AI-enabled workflows.