4 Tactics to Improve Clinical Trial Recruitment

Tailoring the best strategies in clinical trial recruitment can help reach patients quickly and efficiently while providing them with the information they need.

FREMONT, CA: The clinical trial market is vast and proliferating.  It is estimated that the market’s value will be multiplying and is estimated to reach $65.2 billion by 2025. Along with the increasing clinical trial market, there are also many hurdles in patient recruitment. A reliable clinical trial patient recruitment plan can rapidly and efficiently reach patients while offering them the information they need to take the next step. Below are some clinical trial recruitment strategies to help sponsors meet their goals and connect patients with the right opportunities.

• Upgrade Patient Screening Methods

When a patient is identified, the research firm should have an effective screening procedure that is less invasive and requires little travel. Technologies like remote sampling can make such processes possible. Identified trial subjects can submit samples from wherever they are and at any time without visiting the research center. Less training is needed for sample collection, eliminating the need for traveling to perform the screening process.

• Patient-Centric Recruitment Process

Stakeholders are shifting efforts to more patient-centered methods when planning and executing recruitment strategies. 

The demand is to plan recruitment strategies based on individual patients, not the disease. Specific patient recruitment strategies in clinical trial design procedure involve researchers collaborating with patients to play a more active role in collecting feedback from patients about the study design, engaging patients, their peers, and community as volunteers in the trials, providing input about clinical results, and setting research agendas.

• Use Interactive Aids to Enhance Enrollment

Lack of useful information is another obstacle preventing subjects from enrolling in clinical trials. The effect of modifying trial information and how it is delivered can influence the enrollment rate.  A comparison of written, audiovisual, and video materials can make subjects more willing to participate in the trials if the data is presented using videos. Also, an interactive computer presentation can enhance recruitment compared to the audiotaped display.

• Systems to Follow-Up with Patients

When the patients have enrolled in the trail, the research organization must implement ways to follow-up with patients to enhance the retention rate. Again, remote sampling plays a vital role. The researchers can remotely monitor patients’ responses to new drugs using microsampling devices.

See also: Top eClinical Trial Management Consulting/Service Companies