Virtual Support Improves Patient, Site and Sponsor Experiences in Clinical Trials

Learn how virtual support helps address patient and site challenges in clinical trials.

Clinical trials have significantly increased in complexity over the last 20 years, creating new challenges. One of the top reported challenges facing drug developers today is recruiting, enrolling and retaining the right patients for studies. According to research commissioned by the PPD™ clinical research business of Thermo Fisher Scientific, 55% of respondents reported patient recruitment in clinical trials as the top challenge facing their organization, followed closely by increasing trial complexity. Patients are eager to participate in trials but remain largely unaware of their availability despite growing efforts to recruit. One National Institutes of Health (NIH) study reported that only 7% of patients are aware of the national clinical trials website.

Once patients are aware of available trials and are evaluating their participation, additional challenges persist. When a patient passes initial screening and is considering enrolling in a study, there may be concerns about various inconveniences. Travel is the top burden participants face with 70% of potential patients located more than two hours away from a site. The second largest burden is the length of the study visit and required diagnostic testing. Finally, patients want to feel informed about and valued in the study. While feeling unappreciated can result in decreased patient retention, studies show that 91% of patients want to be informed of results and 68% of patients would not participate in additional trials if they were uninformed.

The increase in complexity isn’t just creating challenges for patients. Sites are continually adapting — whether to numerous changing technologies as vendors offer solutions to increase patient engagement, navigating new regulatory complexities or shifting to decentralized trials. At the same time sites are managing their growing workload with limited resources and increased turnover. The impact of disengaged patients and overwhelmed sites is felt by the sponsor through potential delays and increased costs to bring drugs to market.

How can virtual support address patient and site challenges?

Virtual support can address some of these challenges cost-effectively. For example, providing a personal concierge who can develop a relationship and guide the patient through the clinical trial journey can be a valuable way to keep patients engaged. One-to-one connection that helps the patient understand the potential benefit of the therapy and the value they bring by participating in the study may alleviate the risk of early dropouts.

At the same time, virtual support can reduce site burden by performing administrative tasks and conducting pre-screens and data collection so the site can focus on the patient. When the sites and patients are supported, engagement increases. Sponsors can see the results through increased retention, improved data integrity and reduced time to bring life-changing drugs to patients.

Orchestrating virtual support is a balance of having the right technologies, experience and team members. Here are a few things to consider incorporating as part of your virtual support strategy:

• Omni-channel technologies that allow communication based on the patient’s or site’s preference. Patients prefer to use different channels for different communication needs. By excluding a variety of channels (like email, chat and phone apps) in programs, key engagement opportunities and insights will be missed.
• Empathetic teams that understand the clinical trial process and therapeutic area and can motivate the patient throughout the clinical trial journey.
• Technological expertise to provide support on the growing digital components in a clinical trial and improve the patient experience.

In a strong virtual support model, the ideal partner improves the patient and site experience through customizable services, including:

• Patient Navigator
  • A patient-centric solution that increases patient engagement and keeps patients enrolled for the duration of trials through personalized one-on-one support
  • Solves the greatest pain points of clinical trials — e.g., managing appointment and medication reminders, device training, transportation, protocol adherence, patient feedback, and reimbursement to break down barriers and keep patient engaged — through continual support and communication
• Centralized virtual site and patient support
  • A customized approach designed to reduce site burden while providing an extra human touch
  • Support for traditional, hybrid or fully virtual trials through delegated tasks such as trial setup, medical record collection, documentation and review
• Clinical trials hub
  • An always available, multi-lingual hotline that provides trial information to patients and conducts pre-screening, so that only pre-qualified patients are referred to sites
  • Highly trained and empathetic staff that deliver clear communication and patient information using approved resources
  • Proactive support that is ready to go from day one

Partner with a medical communications provider that offers virtual support designed to propel your programs forward

Patient engagement and retention are the cornerstone of any clinical trial. Leveraging virtual services is a cost-effective way to remove barriers, help a patient feel valued and improve retention — all while reducing site burden and improving outcomes. For the greatest success, these services must be offered through empathetic teams with expertise and fit-for-purpose technology.

The PPD clinical research business of Thermo Fisher Scientific’s suite of clinical trial contact center solutions keeps your trial moving while creating the foundations for lasting relationships. Our Virtual Research Coordination Center (VRCC) provides remote data management support to extend site capacity while maintaining high-quality data. Our clinical trial hotline ensures patients and sites can connect to trials and our patient concierge services provide personalized patient support to increase engagement and retention. The hotline model can also be used in a study to provide 24/7/365 backup contact support for sites to use on patient cards and IP labels.