At the recent Society for Clinical Research Sites (SCRS) Global Site Solutions Summit, we spiced things up with our session “The Newlywed Game: Recruitment Struggles & Modern Solutions,” where industry leaders paired up and took on a game-style approach to tackle one of the most critical topics in clinical trials - recruitment.
How Well Do Sponsors and Sites Really Know Each Other?
Clinical trial recruitment has always been a challenge, and traditional methods often fall short, often fueled by huge misunderstandings and misinformation. This session aimed to dig deeper into these issues, debunk some myths, and explore strategies that can give recruitment efforts the spark they need. Like the original Newlywed Game, couples had to guess each other's answers on the real reasons behind recruitment difficulties and offered solutions that are as modern as they are practical.
Game On! Meet the Newlyweds
The panel brought together a lively mix of voices from both sponsors and sites to explore recruitment challenges. On the sponsor side, we had Joe O'Rourke from Walgreens, Carla Sheppard from Gilead, and Amanda Decoker from Takeda. Each was paired with the following site personnel: Rachael McKenzie from Lynn Institute, Louisa Khalil from Atlas Clinical Research, and Nicole Saladino from Javara. The late Steven Geller from Centennial Medical Group was an original panelist and his responses were saved in honor of his enormous contribution to the field. It was the perfect blend of industry pros, ready to get honest with recruitment struggles head-on!
The Recruitment Innovation Killer – Phone Tag is Undefeated!
For sites, managing interested patients is a massive undertaking. No matter how innovative a recruitment tactic is, it all comes down to connecting with the CRC at a site. The panelists revealed how much time is spent on phone calls, follow-ups, and ensuring participants are contacted. Imagine spending 280 hours a week just trying to reach interested and pre-qualified participants. That's the reality for some clinical sites, with some hiring 7 full-time staff just to play phone tag. The burden is huge, and it’s slowing down enrollment. But there’s good news - our Calendar Sync feature flips this script by allowing patients to instantly book their first call, no more phone tag, time & money saved, and enrollment accelerated. The result? A 350% boost in conversion rates.
You Actually Don’t Have a Recruitment Problem. Sites are Quiet Quitting on You
One of the more eye-opening moments came when sites were asked, "Given two competing studies, what percent of the time will you divert patients into the study that’s easier to run?" The answer was up to 100%! Sites are choosing efficiency, and your study may be quietly pushed to the back burner if it's hard to conduct. It’s critical to lighten the load for sites if you want to stay top of mind. Our SiteComms and VisitAssist solutions are purpose-built to do this for you!
Love ‘em and Leave ‘em. Radio Silence Is Still the Norm Post-Study
Patients are asking for their data, but many sites aren’t delivering. Why? Sometimes it’s a resource issue, but often, there’s just no data to share. Interested in the why behind this? This article debunks past misconceptions and details operational barriers that might make it difficult. Our PatientGuidance solution responsibly handles this (and much more!), without burdening the site.
Recruitment is More than Finding Patients
With this game-style session, we tackled real, everyday recruitment challenges from both site and sponsor perspectives - and it was clear: Successful enrollment requires seamless end-to-end processes and technology for recruitment as well as conduct and post-study engagement.
ProofPilot’s end-to-end Clinical Experience Platform enhances the trial experience for both patients and sites:
- Improves recruitment efficiency by allowing patients to take a digital pre-screener and directly schedule their initial call or site visit via the site's calendar.
- Alleviate site burden by simplifying the most complex visits with integrated visit overviews, microlearning, and seamless tech integration.
- Maintain patient engagement throughout trial with precision-targeted, DEI-appropriate content, coordination of tasks, tech, and logistics, and delivery of results, creating an easy, motivating trial experience for each patient.
- Reduce the cost of recruitment technology, while enabling enterprise-wide insights into recruitment performance.
Want to see it in action? Schedule a demo here.
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