PROJECT
Exploring the Importance of HCP-Based Clinical Trial Recruitment & Critical Success Factors
July 2022
SUMMARY
The Importance of HCP-Based Clinical Trial Recruitment & Critical Success Factors
The DHC Group has been working with a cross-section of industry thought leaders to identify how digital innovation can drive change in clinical trial recruitment. Today’s newsletter feature will share what we have learned so far as well as give you opportunities to learn along with us in the future.
In a conversation with Mark Bard, Genentech’s VP of US Medical Affairs, Nik Kolatkar explained why the time is right for decision makers in roles across pharma to be working together to improve clinical trial recruitment “The real opportunity is to improve the customer experience within clinical trials and for patients receiving our marketed products. We can gain insights and use the data to enhance our own development and programs created for customers.”
Successfully recruiting patients to clinical trials comes with a host of challenges given their nuances and complexities. According to BioPharmaDive: 85% of all clinical trials fail to recruit enough patients, 80% are delayed due to recruitment-related problems, and patient dropout rates are poignantly high. The COVID-19 pandemic impacted clinical trials preventing patient monitoring from taking place and requiring new methods to be adopted. Ultimately, allowing remote monitoring and clinical trial participation presented an opportunity to provide patients and physicians with a better clinical trial experience.
When done properly, leveraging technology to decrease the number of site visits needed to participate in a trial would be “transformational,” but such advances must be executed in a truly patient-centric manner.
In this whitepaper, Underscore Marketing provides insights from their physician survey comparing the legacy approach to clinical trial recruitment with considerations of the new COVID-induced paradigm. Spoiler: healthcare professionals play a vital role in successful clinical trial recruitment, however, HCP communication is limited.
INSIGHTS
What Underscore's Physician-Led Data Uncovered
- Less than half of surveyed HCPs attested to getting clinical-trial-based information from email or medical associations.
- Clinical trial coordinator visits come in as the second most popular method for physicians to get educated about clinical trials, with ∼68% citing it as a source.
- Around 75% of HCPs learn about clinical trials from clinical trial site outreach vs. only around 42% getting information from online search results.
- Only ∼10% of physicians gain awareness of clinical trials from social media channels.
Given this insight, what is the most effective way to recruit patients from all backgrounds to participate in clinical trials? Underscore’s recommendation for optimal clinical trial recruitment is to focus on four key themes, which they delve into further within the paper; Location, HCP awareness, Automation-based clinical site outreach, Decentralization where feasible.
additional resources
In this brief interview with Nik Kolatkar with Genentech, Mark Bard discusses innovation in clinical trials, the rapid uptake of digital health tools within patient populations and the impact on post-marketing strategy. As a leader with insights across the spectrum of pharmaceutical research and commercialization, Nik discusses and shares insights on the topics of interest to marketers thinking about what’s ahead for customer-centric marketing.
This 90 minute virtual event will feature a series of rapid-fire presentations from experts on the changing landscape of clinical trials and the role digital innovation is playing in the democratization of trial access, along with adherence and diversity of trial subjects. This mini-Summit will include the release of new HCP research, a case study on the role of digital innovation in trial adherence, and a panel discussion of subject matter experts.