5 clinical trial recruitment project management tips

woman discussing clinical trial recruitment on a phone headset

Recruiting patients for a clinical trial can be a complex process. There are many things to keep track of from outreach to enrollment, whether managing the process in-house or working with a clinical trial recruitment company.

Throughout the process, it’s important to stay organized, nimble, and patient-focused. Below, we share some tips we utilize to ensure that patient enrollment stays on track — read on to learn more.

Tips for clinical trial recruitment project management

Tip 1: Always be learning.
Clinical trials span a variety of conditions, and it's helpful to stay updated on the latest research. At Antidote, we stay up-to-date on clinical trial news through journal articles, posts from clinical research blogs, and industry news. We also stay connected with our patient advocate partners, who immerse themselves in the latest trends in research and often share their findings.

Tip 2: Have experts on hand.
In addition to researching specific conditions and general industry news, Antidote also researches the medical landscape to understand what treatments patients may already have available and why these may not meet their needs. By connecting with experts in the field, research organizations, and patients themselves, we can learn about the challenges patients may face and how participating in a clinical trial may be able to help them.

Tip 3: Keep the patient first.
As a digital patient recruitment company, we always start from the patient's point of view. Medical jargon, trial protocols, and Informed Consent Forms can be difficult for individuals to understand, and it’s the recruitment company’s job to translate this information into easy-to-understand outreach materials that enable patients to decide whether a trial is a good fit for them.

Tip 4: Support the research sites.
Research sites — the hospitals and clinics on the front lines of clinical trial management — need as much support as possible from recruitment partners. When a patient contacts us about a clinical trial, Antidote's team of Patient Care Advocates ensures that they meet the basic criteria for participation and are interested in taking the next step. This allows us to reduce site burden and ensure those we refer are highly qualified for the study they're interested in.

Tip 5: Share results with sponsors.
Early insights on how patients respond to the trial and why they may not be interested are helpful to share with the sponsor. In many cases, findings like these can inform the sponsor about changes to the protocol or recruitment plan. For example, they might learn that patients with a certain condition reside in different geographic areas than originally thought, necessitating geographical adjustments. This type of analytical transparency helps ensure that interested patients can successfully access the research sites and participate in moving medical research forward.

Need help finding the right patients for your trial? Learn how Antidote has helped CROs and pharmaceutical companies take on a range of recruitment challenges and meet their goals.