In the ever-evolving landscape of clinical trials, patient engagement remains a pivotal challenge for clinical research development organizations. Given that Pharma development study teams do not directly engage with patients, what can be done to improve this experience at arm's length with a consistent level of excellence?
With staggering statistics from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) revealing that as of 2020, 41% of Americans reported knowing nothing about clinical trials, it becomes clear that awareness is a significant barrier. The bigger question is: how many people have actually been invited to participate in a trial? Less than 9%.
1: Knowing is Nowhere Near Half the Battle. Bridge the Gap with Better Communication and a Trial Journey Worthy of Your Brand
The NIH reveals that a majority of Americans (59%) would seek information about clinical trials from their healthcare provider first, while 21% would turn to the Internet. And when patients are offered clinical trial participation by their physician, they accept approximately 50% of the time. But if their physician is not the investigator, hardly anyone is offered clinical trials. Regardless, no matter how good or bad these statistics may seem, hearing about a study is frankly the easy part and only the beginning.
A great way to improve the likelihood of enrollment is by setting clear expectations from the get-go, then providing support throughout the study, and for the most courageous, promising the return of lay summaries or even individual results. And of course, making it easy for your site to smoothly run the trial. There is a narrow opportunity for sites to earn a patient’s trust, and having them do detective work in real-time to figure out what to do next disintegrates that trust immediately.
ProofPilot makes it easy for patients to find, share, and enroll in research with study websites designed with right-sized educational content and convenient ways to connect with a study site. From the start, patients know how to participate, what to expect, whether they are eligible, and when they can speak to site staff – this is a critical and often overlooked detail. Once enrolled, we then guide patients through their journey with timely communication and content, ranging from general disease education and trial announcements to patient tools and alerts for upcoming visits, tasks, and milestones, so they’re never left in the dark. Meanwhile, sites are supported in a way that all but guarantees the smooth delivery of research activities.
Sadly, most recruitment and retention efforts are set up like pop-ups or MASH units. Here today, gone tomorrow with an extremely wide variety of visual designs, onboarding experiences, and trial support. With this level of variety, it is impossible to maintain a holistic, premium experience for patients in your study. Patient-centric sponsors are now realizing that to deliver an experience that reflects the company's brand, they must embrace an enterprise approach to the trial recruitment experience that is underpinned by best-in-class, scalable technology purpose-built to deliver repeated excellence. ProofPilot was born to do this.
2: Build Trust and Transparency
Optimism in patients is fragile. Once lost, it is challenging to rebuild. ProofPilot provides the industry’s best platform to both guide patients to your relevant trials within their geographic region, making it effortless for them to stay connected to future opportunities, and showcasing your company’s values and philosophies through engaging content, expectation setting, and smooth workflows.
Delighting patients with key updates before, during, and after the trial helps them understand and appreciate their part of a bigger vision, and will not only drive commitment, but frankly, it’s the right thing to do. Sites are busy delivering care and are often in the dark themselves about study-wide information, so responsible delivery of this centrally using ProofPilot’s platform can build enormous trust.
3: Turns Out, Knowledge is Power
Imagine a world where patients have direct access to comprehensive, engaging, and authoritative education about your clinical trials and the diseases your organization focuses on. Where patients start their experience learning about research with the comfort of knowing that you will have their back along the way. Providing patients with clear, accessible, and reliable information directly from scientific experts can greatly enhance their trust, understanding, and willingness to participate. Better yet, after the trial, having the capability to deliver trial summaries or even individual data responsibly without burdening the site, can make all the difference in motivating a patient to participate. While the point of research is to generate knowledge and truth about the safety and efficacy of the drug, it’s also true that knowledge and truth about a patient is generated in equal measure. Partnering with organizations like ProofPilot that can deliver this education and information in the context of research participation is crucial to being patient-centric.
4: Don’t Let Patients Eat Cake
Be a responsible advocate for the patient while staying in your lane. When a patient fails a pre-screener for a study they believed was a perfect fit, responding with a boilerplate, “sorry folks!” email creates frustration. Alleviating this frustration is as easy as offering a redirection out of this dead end. This can be as simple as connecting them to a trusted Patient Advocacy group or having them sign up to be alerted to new trials or sites that may be opening near them.
At the very least it shows that your company understands that their journey doesn't begin and end with recruitment into a specific trial. Our goal is to position you as a partner that contributes to their journey, versus looking to just take their data. Whether they just landed upon your website or already participating, your patient population is provided with a robust library of resources and guidance, ensuring transparency and accessibility along the way.
Conclusion
Fostering trust, by providing comprehensive education, transparency, and assisting patients find the right next steps will create a more inclusive and engaging clinical trial journey. Let’s commit to delivering a better, holistic experience for our patients at scale, guiding them with clarity, and empowering them with knowledge in a manner worthy of your brand. These four elements are the foundation of a successful patient journey and a patient-centric development organization.
Contact us to learn how ProofPilot can enable flawless execution from recruitment to conduct while delivering a patient journey that reflects your brand.
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