Best Strategies for

Successful Recruitment
and Retention
 Introduction
Conducting a trial is a complex
process that's composed of
many different procedures and
aspects. Two of the most crucial
and vital components of
conducting a study are patient
recruitment and patient
retention. No trial can start
without a successful
recruitment, and no trial can
end with success without
retaining the patients to
complete the trial until the
finish line.

Following the tips in this

presentation will give you the
necessary knowledge to be
able to successfully conduct
your study without any
problems recruiting and
retaining patients.
Planning in
Advance
The 4 most important steps to follow in order
to properly plan your recruitment campaign:

1. Gain an understanding of your audience;

2. Determine your available resources;
3. Learn the expectations of sponsors/CROs;
4. Evaluate your final results;
 1.
Understand
Your Audience
- The specifics and traits of your ideal
participant;

- The benefits that will motivate your ideal

patient to participate;

- The audience that you're trying to reach

only participants or also a
caregiver/family member who will
accompany the patient;
 2. Available
Resources

- Start with your internal database. Recruiting patients doesn't necessarily

mean huge marketing and lots of money. Most of the times, the best way to start
recruiting is to focus on the inside;

- Contact the most qualified potential participants first. When you're

reaching out to patients, start by contacting the ones that are most qualified for
your study and the ones who are easier to get in touch with;

- Start with no-cost/low-cost. Recruiting potential participants doesn't

necessarily mean huge marketing and advertising. There are many other options
that cost nothing (or almost nothing), such as networking, reaching to physicians
for referrals, community outreach, attending related events, etc.
 3. Learn the
Expectations of
Sponsors
- A smart, written plan - When sponsors and CROs look for a site for their
studies, the one thing they will appreciate the most is having an actual plan
that's written and documented properly.

- Estimated budget for recruitment tactics + strong explanations - Put an

estimation of costs for every recruitment tactic that you're planning to use. This
will give the sponsor/CRO an idea of the budget needed for recruiting and will
show seriousness and commitment from your part.

- The outcome in metrics - Having actual numbers with the help of metrics will
give a clear overview to the sponsor/CRO of the outcome and the final results.
4. Evaluation of
Final Results
- How are you determining what worked
and what didn't?

- Which tactics worked and why?

- Which tactics didn't work and why?

- What obstacles did you encounter?

- What were the numeric, actual results

from each tactic?
Common Problems of Patient
Recruitment
Poor patient recruitment will put your site at
risk of not being able to attract any more
future studies and will have a negative impact
on your site's credibility, reputation, budget,
and trustworthiness.

Knowing the importance of patient recruitment,

we must gain a better understanding of what
this complex process entails.

Problem
Study
#1
Misunderstandings
The harm that misunderstandings
cause to patient enrollment is
clearly supported with numbers.
Although 83% of patients see
clinical studies as being extremely
important, only 3% of oncology
patients enroll in these clinical
trials in the US.
Problem
Awareness
#2
Deficit
It is estimated that more than
40% of adults have no idea what a
clinical trial is, and that 8 out of
10 patients with cancer aren't
aware that they can participate in
a clinical trial. These statistics are
concerning for both the sites and
the prospective patients.
Problem
Fear of Being a
#3Pig'
'Guinea
Fear of experimental practices
and unknown outcomes is
another big reason for patients
being afraid to enroll in a clinical
trial.
 Problem
Unknown Access
#4
In order to have a successful
enrollment, patients first must
have a knowledge of the
existence of that study and know
Problem
Individual Skepticism
how to access it. #5
and Obstacles
Not being able to afford travel
costs, missing work days,
communication obstacles... These
are all individual obstacles that
are difficult to solve and will
negatively affect patient
recruitment.
 Tips For More Successful
Patient Recruitment
This message should When it comes to
speak directly to your marketing and
targeted audience and promoting the study,
convey a clear sites can choose either
understanding of the traditional or more
study itself and the modern and
Tip #1 protocol. Finally, the Tip #3 alternative ways of Tip #5
Targeted message you send promotion. Often, a Assess the
React Quickly
Recruitment should also include a call combination of both is Final Results
to action. what works best.
Once the prospective Knowing what works
Divide the patient contacts you, and what doesn't will
population by age, Tip #2 make sure to react Tip #4 be of tremendous
ethnicity, diagnosis, Send a Clear quickly and be Advertising help for future
geography, sex, Message responsive! Media studies.
etc. Doing this will
help you target
your participants
more easily.
Patient Retention Problems
(Dropping Out)
 After a successful recruitment, you will have to work on
retaining your patients throughout the duration of the
whole study. In some cases, dropouts happen because
of some circumstances that cannot be changed or
prevented, but in others, dropouts can be prevented or
stopped.

Patients that drop out of a trial can simply just stop

appearing (coming to appointments) or they can
formally notify the investigator. In the second option,
the investigator can still try to reverse the situation and
stop that patient from withdrawing.
Some of the most common study-related reasons for
patients dropping out include:
- Protocol difficulties regarding procedures, dosages, timelines;
- Losing motivation and will to continue;
- More serious or unpleasant side effects;
- Financial issues connected with the study;
- Improvement of the disease;
- Lack of improvement from the trial drug;
- Peer pressure from other participants;
 Tips For More Successful
Patient Retention
Showing enthusiasm
Regularly contacting throughout the whole
patients and study, no matter how
consistent, open long it takes, is
communication is a important in order to
proven way to keep improve the overall
your patients happy Tip #3 atmosphere of the
Tip #1 study and prevent your Tip #5
Monitor and manage to retain Convenient &
patients from losing Protocol
Satisfaction them until the end of Comfortable interest and dropping Education
the trial.
out.
Being a convenient Finally, the last and
Monitoring the
and comfortable site final tip for a better
participants'
Tip #2 will increase the Tip #4 patient retention is
satisfaction in a trial knowing the protocol.
Consistent chances of patients Staying
is an important Every single person
Communication staying throughout Positive
practice that will from your staff should
help you stay ahead the whole process be educated and
of any problems that and not drop out. trained for the
might arise. specific study
protocol that you're
going to conduct.
 Tracking
Records
With a CTMS
Using a CTMS platform will
give you the necessary
management tools,
database records, budgets
and costs tools, records of
daily activities, and most
importantly track the
outcomes of your
recruitment efforts.
 Checklist

Plan everything in advance!

Try to keep your patients
happy throughout the whole
Anticipate the most common
study in order to retain them
recruitment problems!
and keep them from
withdrawing!
Work with targeted recruitment for
best results!
Be educated and have
knowledge about the
Use both traditional and modern
protocol!
outlets for recruitment!
Document and keep track of
Find creative solutions to solve
data throughout the whole
recruitment problems!
trial period!
Anticipate the most common
And finally showcase your
retention problem dropping out!
site's success and increase
your chances of future
Conclusion
Although there are many factors that might
affect patient recruitment and retention, and
this whole process is a lot more complex than
we can explain in words and theory, hopefully,
the above-mentioned tips and techniques can
give you a better idea of what to expect and
how to increase your site's success.
THANK YOU FOR
YOUR
ATTENTION!