Patient recruitment challenges facing BioPharma sponsors and Contract Research Organizations are widespread and carry significant consequences for trial success, financial outcomes, and delays in bringing therapeutics to patients. In this article, we will share:
- Insights into the challenges of patient recruitment for clinical trials
- Consequences of these challenges
- Solutions that AutoCruitment offers for both patient recruitment and engagement
The challenge of clinical trial patient recruitment and enrollment represents significant hurdles for both patients and sponsors, with many trials experiencing costly delays. On average, 80% of clinical trials face delays that are driven by enrollment. About 55% of trials get canceled due to low accrual rates. Those are the drugs that never get a chance to make it to patients or into the market simply because of enrollment. As of today, there are over 26,000 studies that are either actively recruiting or not yet recruiting patients, and more than 20,000 of those will likely be delayed just due to enrollment challenges.
There are major consequences for trial sponsors and patients. Sponsors could face high-cost overruns, making it more difficult for them to invest in new therapies. For patients, the delays can be detrimental as they await new treatments.
Why traditional recruitment strategies don’t work
The traditional strategy of relying on clinical trial sites for patient recruitment presents several challenges, and reaching more patients requires innovative strategies. The primary strategy for enrolling patients into trials is to rely on clinical trial sites, but that ends up presenting a lot of challenges due to limited reach. Only 5% – 10% of the eligible patient population that could qualify for trials ever gets the chance to participate if recruitment is dependent on research sites alone.
With AutoCruitment, clinical trial sponsors have a path to reach the other 90% of the patient population.
Creating successful recruitment and engagement strategies
AutoCruitment’s approach to increasing enrollment in clinical trials involves large-scale patient outreach, efficient patient and site engagement, and thorough qualification processes.
Through digital targeting and advertising strategies, AutoCruitment has reached over 247 million people that are looking for support on a medical condition either for themselves or their families. Identifying highly motivated individuals is the first step in addressing patient recruitment challenges.
Managing that volume of patients, however, can be challenging without the right engagement strategies, which AutoCruitment manages with dedicated engagement and enhanced qualification services. AutoCruitment’s patient and site engagement teams help reduce site burden, enhance patient experience, and increase funnel performance.
Better qualification means better results
Electronic Medical Record (EMR) Capture and Intelligence is the latest addition to AutoCruitment’s Enhanced Qualification Services. It allows for a more comprehensive view of patients’ medical history and therefore more accurate qualification for trials. With the patient’s consent, AutoCruitment collects medical records on their behalf. With the records available, either the site or AutoCruitment’s Registered Nursing staff can review the record for inclusion/exclusion criteria. EMR collection is fast and seamless, so AutoCruitment can quickly help patients move into the next stage of qualification. Additionally, the ability to review the EMR against the trial protocol means that AutoCruitment has expanded capabilities in recruiting for more complex disease states.
Conclusion
The risk of clinical trials failing due to patient recruitment challenges is real; however, there is a path forward:
- Targeting a significant volume of interested participants
- Giving them support with dedicated engagement services
- Qualifying them well early on
Because of these strategies, AutoCruitment is the expert in patient recruitment, with over 12,000 patients randomized across 120+ conditions.