What is Way to Health?
Way to Health (W2H) is a cloud-based platform that blends behavioral science with scaleable digital technology. To learn more, visit our website at https://www.waytohealth.org/.
Is W2H the right resource for your project?
If you are interested in using W2H, but still have some questions, feel free to contact our team at waytohealth@pennmedicine.upenn.edu.
I'm ready to get started
If you are submitting a grant proposal or already have funding secured, you can Request a Quote for services. You can expect your quote in 1-2 weeks, however if expediting is necessary, please specify in your submission. You may also wish to submit some information about W2H to the funder. Please feel free to use content from this document in your funding application: W2H Structure.docx
I have a W2H quote and funding secured: What's next?
Contact us
- Let us know that your project has been funded and that you are ready to get started.
- Send us the most updated study protocol since notice of award.
- Schedule an introductory meeting with our team.
- If you are a university or health system outside of University of Pennsylvania/Penn Medicine, you will need to sign a master subscription agreement and service order.
- Provide updated financial information to get your account setup by completing this Project Intake Form.
Submit regulatory documentation
Research studies
- Include W2H IRB Documentation in your IRB Submission. https://www.waytohealth.org/irbdocs.
- Register your study on www.clinicaltrials.gov.
Clinical pilots and deployments
- If you are using a text-based intervention, you might consider using the Texting Consent Form Template.
Preparing for your W2H build
While you are preparing your submission to the IRB, you may find that you need additional guidance on exactly how your protocol will translate into the platform. For example: How will you enroll participants? What surveys will you be sending out and when? What devices will be collecting data?
Your implementation lead will go over the details of your protocol and help you develop a unique enrollment flow and arm schedules based on your design. These templates will guide you in building the enrollment flow and each arm of your intervention:
Ordering devices
If your intervention is leveraging any devices from our ecosystem, you should plan on ordering those directly through the device vendor. For a list of connected devices, visit our website: https://www.waytohealth.org/integrations. Some discounts may apply for Penn researchers. Contact the W2H team to ask about negotiated rates with our preferred vendors.
Building and testing
Building on the platform
Once you have clearly mapped out your enrollment and arm schedules, your implementation lead will work with you on building the intervention in W2H. Each project is unique, so the time to build may vary based on the interventions complexity. A typical build timeline looks like this:
- Implementation lead reviews enrollment and arm schedules submitted by you (Week 1).
- Implementation lead creates a W2H account for you and your study. They will set up some basic configurations such as study phone number and devices that you plan on using (Week 1).
- Implementation lead hosts a training to review basic features that apply to your study design (Week 2).
- You take what you've learned and begin building on the platform (Week 2).
- You have a second meeting/training session to review questions that came up while building on the platform (Week 2 or 3).
- You and your implementation lead schedule any follow up meetings or phone calls as needed (Week 3 or 4).
- Testing (see below). (Week 4+)
Testing your intervention(s)
Once the design is finalized you will begin the testing phase. For experienced builders, you may do this in partnership with building and test as you go. Talk to your implementation lead about the best approach for your project.
Testing is a necessary step prior to launch, even if you are using an existing study design. You will want to test a variety of different scenarios to make sure that all use cases are thought through prior to launch. Here are some helpful resources to aid you in developing and carrying out a testing plan:
- Testing Guides
- Enrollment Testing
- Randomization Testing
- Study Arms Testing
- W2H Environments: Learn the difference between production, staging and shadow studies
Developing tools for those managing your study
The W2H User Guide is a great resource for study teams, however, it does not include information on how your unique intervention will work. It is highly recommended that you create a series of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) specific to your intervention. These documents should define exactly how to manage the intervention after launch. An SOP will include detailed documentation on how to enroll patients, how to set up devices for participants, how to approve transactions, etc.
Launching your study
Once you have completed all necessary tests, and have confirmed W2H is working as expected, you are almost ready to enroll your first participant! Simply ask your implementation lead to clear out the test participant data and reset your study.
After enrolling your first participant, you will officially be in study maintenance mode. Moving forward you can direct how-to questions and troubleshooting directly to our Help Desk: www.support.waytohealth.org.