The Gift of TIME: How AHN is Providing Hope with Increased Access to Clinical Trials

AHN is enhancing patient access to innovative therapies through the Tempus TIME Trial® Program. With more than 250 active clinical trials and a network covering 1.6 million cancer patients, AHN is proud to offer this advanced clinical trial platform to patients in western Pennsylvania.

Increasing access, reducing roadblocks

While clinical trials are essential for medical advancement, the process of opening them comes with several challenges including:

• Start-up times of up to 6–8 months.
• Geographical and demographic requirements that don’t always align.
• Lack of financial and administrative support for trials focusing on very small subsets of patients.

AHN is one of approximately 100 health systems nationwide — and one of the few in the region — participating in the TIME Trial Program. This model helps reduce time to activation, expand trial access, and improve outcomes through precision trial matching.

“There would be no progress in oncology or any area of health care without clinical trials,” said AHN hematologist and oncologist, Nathan Bahary, MD, PhD, division chief of medical oncology at AHN Cancer Institute (AHNCI) and director of AHNCI Clinical Research. “They are the key to improving our entire structure of care, and to bringing new, life-changing treatment options to patients — and the TIME Trial Program is a remarkable advancement in making them more accessible.”

How does the TIME Trial Program work? 

The TIME Trial Program connects oncologists and patients to a wide portfolio of precision medicine trials through a streamlined, two-part system:

Smart trial matching: Patient clinical data is compared against trial criteria through Tempus’ cutting-edge, AI-assisted data analysis and sequencing lab. This enables rapid identification of trial eligibility based on real-time, structured clinical insights.

Rapid site activation: The program works with health systems to standardize a clinical trial agreement, rate card, feasibility process, and informed consent form (ICF), and utilizes a centralized institutional review board (IRB). Through this process, AHN gains ongoing access to a broader research network, enabling more patients to connect with cutting-edge clinical studies. Trials can be activated in as little as 7–14 business days — dramatically accelerating access to novel therapies.

A network-wide initiative

AHN is implementing a system-wide approach to ensure that eligible patients are connected to appropriate trials, regardless of where they enter the network. Providers across specialties — radiology, oncology, palliative care, navigation, and more — are collaborating through tumor boards and shared workflows to integrate clinical research into routine care.

“A program like this takes participation from everyone — and helps bring us all closer to the next level of care,” said Dr. Bahary. “If a cancer is 90% curable, we want to make that 95%. A framework like TIME Trial creates a recipe for us to do this, and that’s something we can all get behind.”

How to refer: 

If you have a patient that may be a candidate for novel therapeutics through a clinical trial, connect with AHN today to learn more about how we can provide quicker access to life-changing care through the Tempus TIME Trial Program. Call (412) 578-HOPE (412) 578-4673  or contact one of our Centers of Excellence.