How we doubled patient contact rate

How we doubled patient contact rate

Optimizing site responsiveness can be one of the most challenging aspects of running a successful patient recruitment campaign.

When sponsors invest in big recruitment programs they want to make sure their sites are making the most of every referral. However, as many clinical operations professionals know, site performance can vary dramatically, leading to recruitment bottlenecks. And to make this even harder, there are many temporary challenges that may appear such as a CRC being on vacation or a different trial requiring some additional time and attention.

This was exactly the challenge faced by one of our customers recently.

Despite a few months of steady performance, we found ourselves with contact rates (measured as the percentage of qualified referrals contacted by sites) falling behind. This situation is not uncommon, but it threatened to slow down the entire program. So we embedded on optimizing the process, ultimately doubling the contact rate within two months.

The Challenge: A Distribution of Site Responsiveness

After the first round of patient referrals it became clear that the overall study contact rate was not where we’d want it.

While some sites were hyper responsive, others were falling behind. This kind of variability is typical and can be hard to diagnose without granular data.

We ran a site-level funnel analysis to identify pockets of opportunity. As expected, the analysis revealed a split in performance: some sites were excelling, while others were lagging behind. To address this imbalance and improve the overall contact rate, we implemented a data-driven strategy to optimize site performance.

Power’s Approach: A Granular Site Engagement Strategy

Ultimately, we developed a multi-pronged strategy aimed at reallocating resources and boosting site performance. This strategy included the following key steps:

• Reallocation of Referrals to High-Performing Sites: We began by redistributing patient referrals to the sites that had demonstrated strong performance. By ensuring that the highest-performing sites received more referrals, we could increase the likelihood of patients being contacted in a timely manner.
• Site Feedback via CRAs: Then, we worked with the Clinical Research Associates to engage with underperforming sites to identify whether they were experiencing temporary bottlenecks or broader capacity constraints.
• Dynamic, Ongoing Monitoring: Lastly, we introduced a trailing 14-day dashboard to dynamically monitor site performance. This allowed us to keep a close eye on how well sites were engaging with referred patients and make adjustments as needed. As sites improved their performance, referrals were gradually reallocated to ensure the campaign continued to improve.

The Results: Doubling the Contact Rate in Two Months

Our targeted, data-driven approach quickly began to show results. By reallocating referrals to high-performing sites, providing real-time feedback to underperforming ones, and continuously tracking performance, we saw a significant increase in the overall contact rate. Ultimately, our contact rates doubled, ensuring that more referred patients were engaged and the clinical trial remained on track.

Like what you’ve read? Don't hesitate to reach out to me at brandon@withpower.com – I’m always happy to share more about the data we use to inform these analyses.

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