Clinical trial recruitment is a complex task, and many different challenges can arise. In fact, 80% of clinical trials fail to meet their deadlines and enrollment goals. This makes it crucial to identify and address common issues that hinder recruitment success.
In this article, we will go over some common clinical trial recruitment challenges that you might be struggling with in your patient recruitment efforts and how to solve them. By applying these solutions, you can streamline the recruitment process, reduce costs and delays, and improve overall trial efficiency.
6 Clinical Trial Recruitment Challenges and How to Solve Them
Problem 1: Candidates Visit the Sign-Up Page but Leave
Solution: Simplify Language and Make It More Intuitive
A common issue in clinical trial recruitment is potential participants visiting the sign-up page but not completing the process. This can lead to wasted advertising efforts and hinder recruitment progress.
Possible Reasons:
- The page is not visually appealing or does not establish trust with visitors.
- Too much text overwhelms potential participants, making them hesitant to proceed.
- Too little information leaves them unsure about the trial’s purpose and expectations.
- Complicated medical terminology discourages sign-ups by making the study seem overly complex.
- The language is too technical, making it difficult for non-specialists to understand.
- Unclear or complicated navigation, making it difficult for users to complete their sign-up.
How to Solve It:
- Simplify language and avoid overly technical language to ensure clarity.
- Create a balance between providing enough information and not overwhelming readers by using clear headings and bullet points.
- Include visuals, testimonials, or patient success stories to make the page more engaging and trustworthy.
- Ensure the page is professional, mobile-friendly, and easy to navigate to reduce drop-offs.
- Use trust signals such as verified credentials, endorsements from medical institutions, and participant reviews to increase confidence.
- Implement heat mapping and analytics tools to identify where users are dropping off and refine the user experience accordingly.
Improving the user experience on sign-up pages can greatly enhance conversion rates. By making the page more accessible, informative, and engaging, clinical trial recruiters can boost participation rates and streamline the enrollment process.
Problem 2: Too Many Ineligible Candidates Sign Up
Solution: Highlight Exclusion Criteria
One of the most frustrating clinical trial recruitment issues is dealing with a high number of ineligible participants signing up. Not only does this waste resources, but it can also slow down the recruitment process and lead to delays in study timelines.
How to Solve It:
- Clearly highlight exclusion criteria multiple times in advertising material and throughout the recruitment process
- Display these criteria early on, ideally before users click on ads or begin the application process, to minimize wasted ad spend on ineligible candidates.
- Use simple, accessible language to explain the criteria in a way that is easy for potential participants to understand.
- Accept that some exclusion criteria require in-person tests or detailed medical history checks and that it is impossible to completely prevent ineligible candidates from signing up
By making exclusion criteria more visible, understandable, and accessible, clinical trial recruiters can significantly reduce the number of ineligible participants, saving time and resources while improving the overall efficiency of the recruitment process.
Problem 3: Candidates Live Too Far Away or Have Issues with Travel Frequency
Solution: Offer Travel Reimbursement, Online Solutions, or Narrow Targeting Radius
One of the biggest clinical trial recruitment challenges is attracting eligible participants who can realistically travel for the study. Distance and travel costs can be major barriers to participation.
How to Solve It:
- Offer travel reimbursement to reduce financial burdens on participants and encourage sign-ups.
- Provide virtual or decentralized trial options where possible to expand eligibility.
- Exclude candidates outside a reasonable travel radius from digital advertising campaigns and make distance requirements clear on traditional advertising
- Partner with local healthcare providers to act as satellite locations, reducing the need for long-distance travel.
- Consider flexible scheduling options, allowing participants to choose study visit times that work best for them.
By addressing travel-related barriers, recruiters can increase participation rates and ensure that eligible candidates are not deterred by logistical challenges. Expanding access through decentralized trials and reimbursement strategies can significantly enhance patient retention and recruitment success.
Problem 4: Participants Cannot Be Contacted After Signing Up or Drop Out Later
How to Solve it: Be Clear About the Contact Process, Provide Regular Updates, and Offer Support
Retaining participants after they have signed up is a significant challenge and failing to retain participants can be costly. Overall, there can be many reasons why a participant might not respond back or drop out.
Possible Causes:
- Participants forget they signed up due to a long delay between enrollment and trial start.
- Initial interest fades due to a lack of engagement.
- Poor communication makes them unsure about their status and how the trial process will develop.
- They experience unexpected personal conflicts or health issues.
- They changed their mind and no longer wish to participate
- Complicated trial processes discourage continued participation.
How to Solve It:
- Contact them within 48 hours after they sign up
- Make it clear how and when participants will be contacted.
- Offer a choice of preferred communication methods (phone, email, text, etc.).
- Provide visual guides or step-by-step explanations of the trial process.
- Offer support and be available to answer any questions.
- Regularly update participants on trial progress - studies show that engaged participants are more likely to complete the study.
Participant retention is just as important as recruitment. By maintaining clear communication, providing ongoing support, and keeping participants engaged, dropout rates can be minimized, ensuring costs are kept down and the trial stays on track.
Problem 5: Trouble Figuring out Advertising and Clinical Trial Recruitment Compliance
Solution: Resubmit, Get the Best out of What You Have, or Work with a Patient Recruitment Agency
Navigating regulatory restrictions on clinical trial marketing can be challenging, especially when dealing with IRB (Institutional Review Board) approvals with limited experience. Not having the advertising material approved that you want to use for clinical trial marketing can be frustrating, especially if you do not have time to resubmit material to the IRB.
How to Solve It:
- If possible, resubmit advertising materials with necessary modifications to give more creative freedom.
- Work with what is approved while ensuring future campaigns are better prepared for regulatory challenges.
- Get the best out of what you have and try to anticipate possible scenarios in advance to better prepare for future trials.
- Partner with a patient recruitment agency that understands clinical trial regulations and can navigate compliance efficiently.
Maintaining compliance while executing an effective recruitment campaign can be challenging, but with the right strategies and expert support, it is possible to achieve both goals efficiently.
Learn more about how to navigate regulatory clinical trial recruitment challenges
Problem 6: Advertising is Not Working and Few Sign-Ups
Solution: Adjust your Advertising or Work with a Patient Recruitment Agency
There is no single reason why an advertising campaign may not be performing well. Multiple factors could be at play, and effective clinical trial marketing requires experience, expertise, and ongoing adjustments.
Possible Causes:
- Using the wrong advertising channels - marketing landscapes evolve rapidly, and traditional methods may no longer be as effective. Think about the target group. Where can they be found?
- Relying only on organic advertising - paid advertising is essential to reach large numbers of potential participants.
- Lack of strong CTAs (calls to action) that encourage immediate sign-ups.
- Sign-up pages that are not intuitive or user-friendly, leading to high bounce rates.
- Too much friction between initial interest and sign-up, causing drop-offs in the process.
- Advertising materials that lack credibility or professionalism, making it harder to build trust with potential participants.
- Ineffective targeting - ads may not be reaching the right demographic or geographic audience.
- Failure to analyze and optimize ad performance using data
How to Solve It: Go over our list and address the points that are relevant for you. Effective clinical trial marketing will like any form of marketing require optimization over time and takes trial and error.
The easiest way to overcome these challenges is by partnering with a patient recruitment agency that has expertise in clinical trial marketing. Patient recruitment agencies understand how to optimize campaigns, select the right channels, and ensure maximum outreach while maintaining compliance. They can analyze campaign performance and adjust strategies in real-time to improve ad performance and recruitment success. A well-optimized advertising campaign is crucial for successful recruitment. Working with professionals who specialize in patient recruitment can make a significant difference in reaching the right participants, refining messaging, and achieving enrollment goals efficiently.
At Patiro, we have expertise in all of the above mentioned areas and have collaborated with some of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world and assisted them with patient recruitment. 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 6 Clinical Trial Recruitment Challenges and How to Solve Them
Clinical trial recruitment can be challenging even for experienced patient recruitment specialists. Identifying the cause of recruitment issues is often difficult, and finding the right solutions requires careful analysis and strategy.
We hope this list has given you some solutions to your problems. Perhaps it has also introduced you to potential obstacles you haven't yet encountered - giving you the insight to prevent them or address them if they arise.
To ensure smooth recruitment and avoid these challenges entirely, the simplest solution is to partner with a patient recruitment agency that can effectively manage strategies to meet your recruitment goals.
