{"id":2616,"date":"2017-03-17T11:32:32","date_gmt":"2017-03-17T15:32:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.imperialcrs.com\/blog\/?p=2616"},"modified":"2023-12-14T10:18:16","modified_gmt":"2023-12-14T10:18:16","slug":"performance-measurement-problem-patient-recruitment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.imperialcrs.com\/blog\/patient-recruitment-and-retention\/performance-measurement-problem-patient-recruitment\/","title":{"rendered":"Do We Have a Performance Measurement Problem in Clinical Trial Patient Recruitment?"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s fairly well accepted in today\u2019s clinical research environment that proactive strategies for driving enrollment in clinical trials are part of the complicated equation of success. According to a 2016 survey of study sponsors conducted by Imperial, nearly 55 percent of sponsors develop formal recruitment plans, while another 26 percent turn to their CRO, who may or may not actually develop such plans.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve attended conferences on clinical research, you might have heard case studies and success stories from sponsors and vendors about their recruitment programs. Of course, there are horror stories out there as well. Most of them go something like this: \u201cWe spent a lot of money on a recruitment program and we really can\u2019t say whether it worked.\u201d<\/p>\n

Without good tracking, it\u2019s probably safe to say that every stakeholder would want to take credit for enrolled patients. Study teams, CROs, and sites can all speak for themselves, but recruitment initiatives cannot \u2013 at least not without having proper tracking mechanisms in place. Unfortunately, many sponsors (nearly 48 percent) aren\u2019t tracking the performance of their recruitment initiatives, according to the Imperial survey.<\/p>\n

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Sponsors told us the number one reason for not tracking the performance of recruitment initiatives was the lack of time and resources to do so. The fact is, making the decision to implement recruitment initiatives is probably the easiest part of the program. The tracking is perhaps the most difficult. It can be tricky to determine where patients originated, and it\u2019s also hard to find the time or people to do the tracking.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, there are a variety of options available, depending on the types of initiatives you are using. Below are just a few that you might consider. Like many decisions in life (build vs. buy, for example), sometimes the best decision is to bring on a partner with the expertise and resources to give recruitment program execution and tracking the time and attention necessary.<\/p>\n

Here at Imperial, we often find small to mid-size sponsors come to this realization. Successful enrollment takes a level of attention and tracking that most small sponsors are unable to commit to internally. If you decide to go it alone, consider some of the following:<\/p>\n