Patient recruitment remains one of the most challenging and time-consuming aspects of conducting clinical trials. In the US, more than 80% of clinical trials fail to meet their target timelines due to challenges in recruiting and retaining eligible patients.
To ensure your trial does not fall into these statistics, this article covers 5 actionable ways exploring how to improve patient recruitment in clinical trials - helping you reach your enrollment goals faster and more efficiently.
5 Ways to Improve Patient Recruitment in Clinical Trials in 2025
1. Use a Variety of Different Advertising Methods in Your Clinical Trial Recruitment Plan
Clinical trial recruitment strategies are most effective when using a combination of both traditional and digital advertising methods. In today’s world, patients are accessing information in various ways, making it essential to diversify advertising approaches to reach a broader audience. A mix of these methods ensures that both tech-savvy and less digitally engaged individuals can be targeted.
Use Traditional Clinical Trial Advertising Methods
While digital platforms have transformed the recruitment landscape, traditional advertising still holds significant value, especially for those with limited internet access or for people who prefer more conventional channels. Traditional advertising methods - such as printed brochures, posters, newspaper ads and radio broadcasts- can be highly effective in reaching a demographic that may not be active online.
This is especially true for older adults, since 12% of Americans aged 65 years old and older do not use the internet. Given that many clinical trial participants fall into this age group, incorporating offline patient recruitment strategies becomes even more important of your clinical trial recruitment plan.
Trust is crucial when it comes to patient recruitment. For some individuals, especially those from older generations or those with limited experience online, traditional methods build a sense of credibility. These forms of advertising often feel more genuine and trustworthy compared to digital ads, which may seem more transient. Additionally, partnering with patient advocacy groups can further enhance the credibility of these traditional methods. These groups are often trusted sources of information within communities, and collaborating with them can ensure that your clinical trial reaches the right people.
Leverage Digital Advertising Methods for Optimal Reach
However, as more people engage with digital media, it’s equally important to focus efforts on digital advertising. Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram along with Google Ads, offer robust targeting tools that help pinpoint the right demographic for a clinical trial. Digital advertising is particularly effective because it allows recruitment teams to target specific patient profiles based on factors such as age, gender, location, and interests.
In addition to demographic targeting, digital platforms allow for the use of lookalike audiences and retargeting ad strategies. Lookalike audiences are powerful because they enable advertisers to target individuals who share characteristics with existing qualified patients. Retargeting ads, on the other hand, help keep potential participants engaged by displaying ads to people who have previously interacted with trial-related content but have not yet signed up. These clinical trial recruitment strategies can significantly boost patient enrollment by ensuring that advertising efforts are continuously refined and focused on the right audience.
By integrating both traditional and digital advertising strategies, clinical trial recruitment specialists can ensure that their recruitment efforts cast a wide net while remaining highly targeted. This approach not only maximizes exposure but also improves the likelihood of enrolling patients who meet the trial’s eligibility criteria.
Learn more about how to leverage digital advertising in your clinical trial recruitment plan
2. Highlight Exclusion Criteria Clearly
In clinical trials, ensuring the eligibility of participants is essential for gathering valid data and ensuring the safety of the participants. As trials become increasingly specialized, making exclusion criteria clear and prominent is more important than ever. Ensuring that the eligibility criteria are clear minimizes the number of ineligible candidates who interact with your advertising material which reduces wasted advertising spend.
When exclusion criteria are not communicated effectively, there’s a higher likelihood of receiving applicants who do not meet the required standards. This can lead to wasted time and resources in processing applications, not to mention disappointment for patients who were excited to participate but ultimately did not qualify.
Communicate Exclusion Criteria Early and Often
To avoid wasted ad spend and creating false hope, exclusion criteria should be highlighted in all patient-facing materials. This includes ads, landing pages, information sheets, and sign-up forms. By placing this information in multiple locations, you ensure that potential participants are reminded of the eligibility requirements at every step of the process.
This can be particularly helpful in clinical trials with strict or complex eligibility criteria. For example, if a trial only includes individuals who are not on specific medications or those with a certain medical history, explicitly stating these factors will help filter out candidates who are not a good fit. By clearly stating who does not qualify, you prevent patients from getting their hopes up and encourage those who do qualify to move forward with their registration.
Learn more about how to recruit patients for clinical trials using digital methods
3. Use Data to Optimize Ad Performance
One of the key advantages of digital marketing is the ability to use data to continuously optimize campaigns. No two clinical trials are the same, and what works for one trial may not be as effective for another. For this reason, it is critical to use advanced analytics tools to track the performance of advertisements and make adjustments as needed.
Leverage Advanced Analytics Tools to Optimize Advertising Performance
Platforms like Meta Ads Manager (Facebook and Instagram) and Google Ads provide detailed metrics that enable recruitment teams to assess the success of their campaigns. These tools allow teams to monitor key performance indicators such as click-through rates, conversion rates, cost per lead, and more. With this information, recruitment teams can identify what is working and what is not.
Use Insights from Your Clinical Trial Recruitment Plan to Find Patterns and Adapt to them
By analyzing the data, recruitment teams can uncover trends that provide insights into which demographic groups are more likely to qualify for the trial. For example, if the data shows that a particular age group or geographic location tends to respond positively to ads, this information can be used to adjust the targeting of future campaigns.
Use A/B Testing to Optimize Clinical Trial Advertising
A/B testing is another essential tool in data-driven optimization. By running different versions of an ad (with varying text, images, and calls to action), recruitment teams can determine which combination is most effective. These small tweaks can lead to significant improvements in performance and, ultimately, patient enrollment.
Adjust Your Budget of your Clinical Trial Recruitment Plan Based on the Data
Once patterns are established, recruitment teams can shift their budget to focus on the methods and channels that deliver the best results. For instance, if social media ads on Instagram are performing better than ads on Facebook, more of the ad spend can be directed to Instagram. Conversely, if a particular ad format is not performing well, adjustments can be made, or that ad format can be phased out altogether.
What works best changes from trial to trial and therefore testing out multiple advertising methods can be well worth it. By continuously monitoring and adapting to the data, clinical trial recruitment specialists can ensure that they are making the most efficient use of their advertising budget while maximizing patient enrollment.
4. Reduce Friction in the Enrollment Process
Patient enrollment in clinical trials is often a complex process. From filling out lengthy questionnaires to understanding the trial protocol, patients can feel overwhelmed or discouraged by the requirements. By reducing friction and streamlining the enrollment process, clinical trial teams can improve patient participation rates and reduce dropout rates.
Simplify the Enrollment Process
The first step in reducing friction is simplifying the patient registration process. Long, complicated questionnaires or forms filled with technical medical terminology can cause confusion or frustration. Ensuring that the enrollment forms are easy to navigate and understand is key to maintaining participant interest.
By breaking down complex forms into smaller sections and using plain language, you can make the process more accessible to a broader range of people. Additionally, online forms should be optimized for mobile devices to accommodate patients who may prefer to fill out their information on smartphones or tablets.
Make the Enrollment Process Transparent
Transparency is another important aspect of reducing friction. Patients need to understand what they are signing up for, what the trial will involve, and what their rights are as participants. Clearly explaining the benefits and risks of participating early on in the process helps build trust and ensures that patients feel comfortable moving forward.
Additionally, aligning expectations from the outset - such as how long the trial will take, what kind of follow-up is involved, and any potential costs - ensures that patients are fully aware of what to expect. This reduces the risk of participants dropping out late in the process due to misunderstandings or unrealistic expectations.
5. Prioritize Patient Retention in Clinical Trials and Make it Part of Your Recruitment Plan
Recruiting patients for a clinical trial is just the beginning. Patient retention in clinical trials is equally important. High patient retention rates contribute to the success of the trial by ensuring that enough data is collected to produce reliable results. Since leads can be expensive, retaining eligible participants is critical to ensure that budgets stay on track.
Provide Ongoing Support and Communication
To ensure patient retention in clinical trials, patients should feel supported throughout their participation in a clinical trial. This means offering regular communication, answering questions promptly, and providing assistance when needed. Having a dedicated specialist available to address concerns and provide updates can greatly improve the patient experience and foster trust.
Offer Participants Flexibility and Convenience
Patients are more likely to stay enrolled in a trial if they are given flexibility in terms of scheduling and participation. Offering flexible appointment times or the option to participate remotely can make a significant difference, particularly for patients who may have difficulty traveling to a physical location. Providing compensation for travel expenses or offering home visits can also improve patient retention rates for patients who live far from the trial site.
6. (Bonus) Partner with a Patient Recruitment Company
Patient recruitment can be an overwhelming task, particularly for organizations that lack in-house expertise or experience. The landscape of clinical trial recruitment is increasingly complex, and navigating the intricacies of patient enrollment in clinical trials can be challenging. Fortunately, there are companies that specialize in exactly this.
These companies have years of experience and expertise in patient recruitment, offering a wide range of services tailored to different therapeutic areas. By partnering with a patient recruitment company, sponsors can reduce the burden on their internal teams, allowing them to focus on other critical aspects of the trial. A recruitment company can help optimize clinical trial recruitment strategies, utilize the latest tools and technologies, and ensure that your trial stays compliant with clinical trial regulation and meets the goals of the clinical trial recruitment plan.
At Patiro, we have extensive experience in recruiting patients for clinical trials and collaborate with some of the largest pharmaceutical companies, assisting them in recruiting eligible patients for clinical trials globally. Patiro has helped enroll patients in more than 44 countries and covered more than 2,000 diseases, including rare diseases, oncology, CNS, psychiatry, pediatrics, and a lot more.
If you believe Patiro could be the right partner for your clinical trial, schedule a demo today to learn more about how we can help you.
Final Thoughts on How to Improve Patient Recruitment in Clinical Trials
As the clinical trial landscape continues to evolve, staying ahead of patient recruitment trends and continuously improving your clinical trial recruitment strategies is essential to achieving better patient enrollment outcomes.
As we have highlighted, there are various strategies to improve patient recruitment in clinical trials. The most effective approach for your trial will vary trial by trial and heavily depends on which stage of the recruitment process where you are encountering the biggest challenges.
We hope this list has provided you with some fresh ideas and actionable insights on how to improve patient recruitment in your clinical trials and ultimately bring your trial to a successful conclusion.
