Patient Recruitment Planning and Retention

Every day I talk with sponsors facing decisions about investing in patient recruitment support. I thought it might be helpful to hear what a fellow sponsor with many years of experience has to say about it. Sue Blaustein has focused on patient recruitment needs for the past 12 years of her 20-year GSK career. In 1997, she established an internal patient recruitment team. Since 2004, Sue has led the outsourcing of patient recruitment services for all of GSK's therapeutic teams.

JB: What's your philosophy on working with a dedicated patient recruitment group versus relying solely on the study team or CRO?
SB: My company's perspective has evolved as the industry's capabilities have grown. Full service patient recruitment groups are no longer PR companies. Now they have added strategic services, increased operational abilities, deeper therapeutic expertise and sophisticated metrics tools. We have come to recognize that patient recruitment is a crucial communications function and appreciate the value of working with a dedicated patient recruitment group. 

JB: Do you find yourself trying to convince colleagues that an early investment in recruitment will save money later?
SB: Not anymore - planning patient recruitment and retention is now a standard part of our study launch process. Of course, timelines and budget come into play, but the cost effectiveness of outsourcing patient recruitment has improved. Additionally, the project management capabilities of full service groups have become more sophisticated. They are using IT and database tools to identify and analyze issues more creatively. We have found that their capabilities help catch things we would miss if we were looking at the program in pieces or only at a segment of the sites.

JB: We are sometimes asked about potential overlap of our site support services with the study team and/or CRO. What's your experience been with site support and patient recruitment groups?
SB: Monitors and study managers are stretched to the limit with their core responsibilities. They don't have time to perform their GCP functions and oversee a well-targeted patient recruitment plan for each of their sites. It's a challenge to staff and time based resources to efficiently interface with a collection of niche providers. My colleagues don't really need to be convinced of this reality. If you want the program to come together, you need to seriously consider having the support of a dedicated patient recruitment group. 

Additionally, we've developed an appreciation for the value of having the patient recruitment group support sites directly. Experience has taught us three important lessons in this area: 1) Set up the program so that sites expect contact from the patient recruitment group, 2) Limit the number of people from the patient recruitment group who contact the site, and 3) Acknowledge the patient recruitment group as a partner. Our focus is on transparent collaboration and the best use of everyone's resources to get the study done. 

JB: What's your advice to someone who is trying to introduce the use of a dedicated patient recruitment group to their study teams or management?
SB: Look at it as a business case. Do you have the resources to do it right? Is your company an expert in developing pharmaceutical products or in communications? Years ago, outsourcing patient recruitment wasn't as viable an option as it is today. It takes time and mutual commitment to develop high quality relationships with patient recruitment groups (particularly from the project management and business operations perspectives). There are more moving parts than you might think; it is a lot to manage effectively. I believe this reality makes a strong case for developing partnerships with a few full service groups that have breadth and depth of experience, as well as strategic partnerships with niche providers.

Sue Blaustein is Senior Contract Manager of Patient Recruitment Programs for GlaxoSmithKline. Sue has attended to GSK's patient recruitment needs for over 20 years. In 1997, she established their internal patient recruitment team. Since 2004, Sue has led the outsourcing of patient recruitment services across all of GSK's therapeutic teams.