Professional patient enrollment increases willingness to participate in a clinical trial
Clariness’ whitepaper “How to enhance your clinical trials in 2022: Overcome the post COVID-19 challenges in patient enrollment, by partnering with third-party providers” shows how sponsors, contract research organizations and research institutions can address the major challenges of continuous patient enrollment for clinical trials. At the heart of Clariness’ approach to patient recruitment is the data-driven approach of the ClinLife® clinical trial platform.
Free download of the whitepaper: click here
The fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has shaken up many things is no more than a commonplace. While some economic sectors have lost strength because of the pandemic, other sectors have been strengthened, and digitization has also experienced a further boost. This applies, for example, to the area of clinical trials, although this trend had already become apparent before the outbreak of the pandemic.
The background: The development of new drugs and therapies has progressed rapidly in recent decades, which is probably mainly due to the standardization of randomized clinical trials, digitization, and technological progress. Meanwhile, the development of COVID-19 vaccines has provided further growth and exposed more people than ever to clinical trials. While fewer than 30,000 people were enrolled in clinical trials between 2016 and 2017, by 2020 and 2021, that number had grown to about 300,000. Thus, the progress in overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic through vaccination was lifted by clinical trial readiness.
Recruitment of patients is considered the biggest obstacle to clinical trials
At the same time, the willingness to participate in a clinical trial has been, is, and will remain the greatest challenge for medical and pharmaceutical companies, study centers, sites, and other organizations involved in clinical research. Patient recruitment is thus considered the biggest obstacle to clinical trials. There are many reasons for this, as shown by the results of a 2019 Clariness’ survey of 812 sponsors, contract research organizations, and research organizations, as well as recent studies on clinical trial success rates.
The biggest challenge associated with patient enrollment, cited by nearly a quarter of respondents, is the complexity of documentation, which makes it increasingly difficult to find qualified enrollees. Lack of understanding of the patient perspective ranked second, while selection of the study site was the third biggest obstacle.
As a result, stakeholders regularly ask how to address the challenge of continuous patient recruitment? Clariness’ whitepaper “How to enhance your clinical trials in 2022: Overcome the post COVID-19 challenges in patient enrollment, by partnering with third-party providers” addresses these challenges and corresponding solutions and is available digitally here.
Directly approaching patients online is a great opportunity
Above all, the use of appropriate technologies can be optimized. As the results of the Clariness survey show, social media and online outreach are most frequently cited as the areas used in the patients’ enrollment phase. The problem is that social media and other digital channels are often used traditionally as advertising platforms. However, they are not customized based on the local and global patient population of the therapeutic area, and likewise, Big Data is not being used to amplify reach, performance, and screening and outreach tools.
Clariness, takes a different approach with more than 17 years of experience and knows that it is critical to optimize an outreach campaign based on patient surveys and data-driven outreach efforts that are continually refined based on digital pre-screener and referral performance metrics. Their fully digitized approach leads to continuous and direct online outreach to patients, which is a great opportunity for patient recruitment.
Data-driven approach to optimal patient recruitment
We also support clinical trials by facilitating a smooth relationship between study sites and sponsors, by overseeing the practical aspects of site set-up, site capacity and recruitment campaigns. By doing so, we ensure that all parties are working toward the same study goals. Thus, clarity stands for:
- Assessing site feasibility to find the right site for the right patient and the right study
- Improving outcomes by increasing patient engagement, motivation, and support
- The experience of working with patient organizations and healthcare providers
At the heart of Clariness’ approach to patient recruitment is a data-driven approach to patient insights, patient-friendly study materials, and our ClinLife® clinical trial platform.
ClinLife® is a neutral, patient-centered clinical trial platform created in direct collaboration with patients and continuously improved through their feedback and analysis of performance data. ClinLife® allows study centers and pharmaceutical companies to publish individual studies or an entire portfolio of clinical studies online in a GDPR-compliant manner and with the approval of local ethics committees. ClinLife® is already locally active in more than 50 countries, available in >30 languages and has conducted more than 1,200+ successful clinical trials.
Free download of the whitepaper: click here
Want to know how we can support your patient recruitment?
Whether you’re planning, or actively recruiting, we can support your trials to ensure you meet your enrollment targets. Simply get in touch with one of our experts, and we will review your study’s requirements, and develop a strategy to enroll more patients.
Insights and recourses
