Neurology Expertise & Case Studies
Operated and staffed by medical experts, our call center delivers exceptional patient communication in all therapeutic areas, including nearly a dozen recent and ongoing patient recruitment programs for neurology trials.
Cervical Dystonia
We conducted patient recruitment screening to support enrollment for a Phase III movement disorder study assessing new medication for cervical dystonia (CD). The study required the enrollment of 222 CD patients, of whom 39% had to be treatment-naïve, within nine months of study start-up. Challenges to achieving this goal included a small patient population, aggressive timeframe, unengaged study sites, and the similarity of the compound to one already available. Solutions included:
- Patient Recruitment – Operators educated CD patients about the study and increased interest in participating through an extensive outreach campaign and an in-depth prescreening process.
- Site Support – Medical professionals engaged participating study sites with extensive recruitment support and followed up with every potential patient referral.
Results:Targeted outreach strategies drove more than 3,200 calls to the call center.
- 47% of the contacts completed the prescreening and 52% of those were referred to study sites for follow-up.
- Ultimately, 30% of the study’s treatment-naïve participants and 14% of previously treated participants were recruited through the campaign.
Multiple Sclerosis
A global leader in biotechnology selected our call center to provide patient screening and reporting for two simultaneously recruiting Phase III clinical studies related to treatment of multiple sclerosis. The goal was to incorporate approximately 200 sites worldwide, comprising a total of 1,200 randomized patients for one study and 525 for the other, with recruitment completed within 12 months. We proposed a comprehensive and cost effective recruitment program, including:
- Patient Screening: Prescreening incorporated live call center operators and an interactive web screener to significantly reduce the number of unqualified participants who would have otherwise resulted in screen failures during site visits.
- Our call center is staffed by healthcare professionals who, due to their medical expertise, are able to effectively walk potential participants through the screening process. Qualified participants are referred directly to the appropriate study sites.
- Web screeners provide potential participants the opportunity to pre-screen themselves 24/7/365. These are especially effective for recruitment of international participants.
- Referral Tracking: Through our online referral tracking system, sponsors can monitor each site’s activity per referred participant, which increases site accountability and details the conversion of pre-qualified referrals into randomized patients
Results: Our effort and expertise in the recruitment process played a key role in the rapid increase in qualified patient referrals and ultimately led to a significant cost savings for the client.
- Enrollment goals were met and the project was completed within 180 days – 6 months ahead of schedule.
- The Web screener was utilized by 3,632 potential participants, of which 151 (4%) were prequalified and referred to the local study site for baseline screening.
- Live operators screened 206 potential participants, of which 60 (30%) were prequalified and referred.
- 51% of referrals who completed baseline screening at the sites were randomized into the study.
- Vanity numbers allowed the PR firm to track success of promotional areas and created a higher ROI.
Alzheimer’s Disease
Our call center was chosen to create and implement a national patient recruitment program to support patient enrollment for a complex Alzheimer’s clinical trial. This comprehensive program required development of a live operator script, online screener, patient tracking program, and data management.
- Patient Screening: In addition to developing the call script and interactive screening software, we utilized a blend of healthcare-trained operators and web-based tools to handle inbound inquiries and prescreen potential study volunteers.
- Data Management and Reporting: Our patient tracking data management program provided the client with daily call center activity reports and patient tracking at the various trial sites. We worked closely with the public relations team to report call activity from regions within the marketing area.
Results: Based on site enrollment and regional media response, patient recruitment efforts were shifted to focus on targeted areas. Patient recruitment was completed and enrollment closed ahead of schedule, saving thousands of dollars in continued enrollment strategies.
Neurology Trial Experience
Condition |
Duration (Months) |
Phase |
# of Calls |
# Screened |
# Referred |
% Referred |
| Alzheimer’s |
3 |
3 |
489 |
273 |
142 |
52% |
| Blepherospasm |
15 |
3 |
1344 |
651 |
263 |
40% |
| Cervical Dystonia |
15 |
3 |
3238 |
1538 |
876 |
57% |
| Multiple Sclerosis |
9 |
2 |
644 |
327 |
170 |
52% |
| Multiple Sclerosis |
6 |
2 |
506 |
206 |
60 |
29% |
| Pseudobulbar Affect |
4 |
3 |
47 |
24 |
13 |
54% |
|
