Patient-centered research in the Internet age

In a time when drug development success is becoming scarcer and more expensive, the industry is looking everywhere it can for new, innovative approaches to improving health. Increasingly we hear of the need for patient-centered research. In a highly regulated, process-oriented field such as clinical research, such changes, while essential, are highly disruptive and the outcomes are uncertain. What does patient-centered research mean? For an industry already beset with challenges, is it yet another complex burden, or can it provide a pathway to make the research process more targeted, smarter, and efficient?