As sponsors work to keep clinical trials on track amidst pandemic-related restrictions, patient recruitment has become an increasing concern. One tactic that is yielding excellent results is a Physician Referral Network—a service from Continuum Clinical that engages and educates physicians about a clinical trial with the purpose of having the treating physicians identify and refer qualified patients to the study. Continuum Physician Referral Networks (PRNs) target physicians within a site’s healthcare system or community physicians with offices near a site. PRNs identify patients who are more motivated to attend screening visits and who ultimately are more likely than other referrals to qualify and randomize into the trial. And since PRNs can be established and maintained virtually, they are not hindered by COVID-related restrictions.
Highly Qualified Patients
Clinical trial study sites are grappling with lean staffing and reduced office hours. Highly qualified referrals are important in helping sites save precious time to close enrollment faster. In a recent survey conducted by Continuum Clinical and the Association of Clinical Research professionals (ACRP), 65% of responding study sites indicated a physician referral program would be somewhat or very helpful in continuing to screen and randomize patients for their studies. Patients referred from Continuum PRNs have as much as a 34% lower screen failure rate than those referred from other sources.
More Likely to Attend Screening Visits
Due to the pandemic, patients recruited through advertising may be hesitant to schedule screening appointments, because it requires them to visit an unfamiliar site with staff they don’t know. But patients who are referred to a study site at the suggestion of their trusted treating physician are much more likely to schedule screening visits. With PRN, the referring physician can be educated on the study site’s COVID safety protocols as part of the PRN in-service and can pass along those assurances to wary patients.
No Need for In Person In-service
Physicians are getting more comfortable with videoconferencing as a way to continue helping their patients, and telehealth visits are becoming more common, with one study finding a more than 4,000% increase in telehealth visits over the past 12 months. Continuum Clinical recently conducted a survey of referring physicians and found that 60% of respondents were somewhat or very interested in continuing to learn about clinical research opportunities via videoconference. With PRN, in-services are easily scheduled via videoconference, so recruitment is not hindered by the loss of true face-to-face interactions.
Considering using a physician referral network to compliment your recruitment efforts—may well be the tactic that keeps your study enrollment on track, even amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
To learn more about Continuum Clinical Physician Referral Networks, click here.
