In my last blog post, I wrote about findings from a first-of-its kind survey conducted by Imperial. We surveyed managers and directors of clinical operations, project managers, lead/senior CRAs, and patient recruitment specialists from sponsor companies, and ended up with a behind the scenes look at how they tackle patient recruitment challenges.
In this post, I’ll examine the use of enrollment plans and strategies, working with sites, and measuring the performance of recruitment efforts.
Our survey found:
- About 55 percent of sponsors develop their own formal recruitment plans, while 33 percent rely on a CRO or a patient recruitment company. The balance rely on investigative sites to develop plans.
- Most determine a site’s enrollment capability by reviewing past performance.
- The majority said they expect enrollment to begin within three months (with most indications), and most select backup sites in the event original sites don’t perform.
- Despite significant advances in technology, most sponsors (39 percent) use traditional recruitment channels, such as printed educational and promotional tools, less than 10 percent use the internet, and only 6 percent use TV and radio.
- Many sponsors don’t track the performance of their recruitment strategies, with most reporting that they lack the time or resources to do so.
With only 12.7 percent telling us they rely on sites to enroll and develop recruitment plans, we are seeing the majority of sponsors taking a hands-on approach with enrollment. However, with recruitment and enrollment being key factors to delays in the completion of trials, neglecting to track the performance of recruiting strategies leaves a clear opportunity to refine recruitment efforts.
Imperial’s full research brief, with more information from our study of sponsor attitudes and behaviors is now available. Click on the link below to download your free copy.