How To Ensure Site Success Through This New Era Of Increased Decentralized Trials

By Stuart Redding and Kerry Leyden, Medical Research Network

Decentralized clinical trials (DCTs), which allow patients to participate in clinical trials remotely, have grown exponentially in recent years due to advancements in data collection technology and the recent pandemic. When fully optimized, DCTs augment clinical sites by moving some visits out of a clinic or hospital and into a patient's home. They have shown benefits to trials like increasing patient enrollment, engagement, and retention. However, misconceptions and underutilization hold DCTs back, preventing them from being fully optimized.

So, how do sponsors improve their DCT implementation? And what makes the difference between a successful DCT deployment and a lackluster one? The answer is relationship-building.

Mutual understanding and trust are the building blocks of a fruitful collaboration between DCT providers and sites. DCT providers should engage with high-performing sites directly to assess recruitment potential and understand their needs, challenges, and patient groups. Likewise, the sites need to understand the role of a DCT healthcare professional (HCP) and have an opportunity to ask questions and receive support.

Increasingly, sponsors turn to DCTs to improve recruitment and engagement. But too often, sponsors employ DCTs as a last-ditch effort to improve patient numbers instead of partnering with the DCT provider from the outset. In these cases, the DCTs and in-person trials operate independently from one another instead of working together. These methods minimize the DCTs’ potential benefits, undermining sponsors’ return on their investment.