Mural Health Technologies, Inc., a patient-first clinical trial technology company, and ICON plc (NASDAQ: ICLR), a global healthcare intelligence and clinical research organization, today announce a partnership to utilize the participant management and payments platform, Mural Link.

ICON will utilize Mural Link’s innovative functionality related to clinical trial participant payments, tax management, travel and concierge support, site-participant communication tools, and novel reporting and analytics capabilities.

“From our very first conversations with ICON, we were highly impressed by their commitment to patient care and innovation,” said Sam Whitaker, CEO of Mural Health. “This partnership represents a shared vision of removing barriers to trial participation and advancing participation financial neutrality, while eliminating the need for site staff to manage highly manual, error-prone, and time-consuming administrative activities.”

Mural Health’s novel operating model and diverse payment options, including the industry’s only fee-free debit card option, will assist ICON to eliminate significant financial barriers that prevent trial participation. ICON’s customers will benefit from an increase in the total recruitable patient population, including large communities of historically underrepresented patient populations, and a reduction in participant-level operating challenges that drive patient-attrition.

“Mural Health’s range of payment methods, unique approach to payment structure, and introduction of a fee-free participant environment are important additions to how we deliver care to patients,” said Dr Gareth Milborrow, Executive Vice President, Business Operations, ICON. “We look forward to bringing these to our customers and, importantly, to delivering very tangible benefits to our patients and sites.”