See how we have strategically helped other clinical trials. Case Studies
How's that working for you?
In these tough economic times it seems as though pre-emptive patient recruitment tactics have, once again, taken a back seat to the traditional model. And until 2008, it seemed as though we had truly turned the corner in the mindset of pharmaceutical clinical research, moving toward patient recruitment solutions that were a match for the protocol rather than a last ditch attempt to stir some interest.
Frightened executives are now depending on their contracting departments to make the tough decisions for study teams. This tends to result in costly rescue programs that could have been simple, highly effective solutions at a fraction of the cost. These days there is no reward for thinking outside the box. The box has become impenetrable; built on the fear of being “downsized” for offering a new solution that hasn’t been tried and tested within the company. It seems it is much safer to jump on the traditional band wagon, waiting for the miracle to happen all by itself and then throwing millions of dollars in advertising to rescue enrollment at the last minute. Since this has been done before, there is no risk to the person responsible for enrollment.
CROs are being held responsible for determining the outcome of enrollment, yet are mostly unprepared to tackle this objective. You choose your CRO based upon the quality of sites they present and the data collected, monitored and presented. It’s true that your CRO has site relationships and that good site communication is essential in any recruitment and enrollment effort. Some CROs even tout a patient recruitment department. Most of the time this tends to be one or two people in charge of contracting an ad agency to rescue enrollment. Few, if any, have an internal patient enrollment assessment function and fewer still have an arsenal of approaches that they initiate at study start up, introduce at investigator meetings and follow through with during the course of the study. The CROs who do this generally have an alliance with an external patient enrollment company who specializes in these functions.
It would seem as though logic should prevail when economics are the primary concern in the enrollment process. We, and others in our field, have proven time and again that providing enrollment assistance from the study onset is a far more economical solution than putting the onus on your CRO. Targeted communication solutions result in faster enrollment with high quality data collection, help your sites maximize their internal patient enrollment, increase the quality of physician-patient communication and save money in the process. There is not now, nor will there ever be, a miracle solution that works for every study. There are certain things that work better than others for certain protocols and even more to the point, your primary goals will have a dramatic effect on what works and what doesn’t.
You patient recruitment and enrollment partner must have a vast arsenal of tactics at their disposal in order to meet the specific needs of your protocol. They must be high-level thinkers with experience in problem solving. They must be able to provide solutions that can be fully customized to your protocol and your patient population. They must be able to identify where the challenges exist and how best to overcome the challenges. They must be tireless in their efforts and not provide blue-sky projections. Most of all, they should be focused on bringing you the highest quality patients, in the shortest amount of time, at the most cost-effective budget.
So, if you’re currently relying upon your CRO to fulfill your study’s patient enrollment goals, or you are managing the process yourself with your sites, we ask the question…”How’s that REALLY working for you?” If your answer is anything but “perfect,” you may want to find out how a targeted solution from a company that specializes in working through tough enrollment solutions will work.
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