Around 59% of clinical trial sites are seeing fewer eligible patients recruited due to inefficiencies with their recruitment process, according to a recent survey.
Of the 100 U.S.-based clinical trial site employees surveyed by health tech company myTomorrows in May, 52% said that at least 20% of patient referrals were deemed ineligible before the formal screening process had even begun.
The report also referenced academic research from 2024 that suggested recruitment delays affect nearly 80% of trials. The teams at these sites are faced with the challenge of screening patients, coordinating with CROs and guiding patients through the decision-making process, myTomorrows pointed out.
The survey data, published July 14, revealed that 27% of trial sites spend more than 20 hours per week reviewing incoming referrals, with 52% of sites utilizing at least four different tools for pre-screening.
Poor referral quality and fragmented workflows reap consequences that reach all the way to clinical trial enrollment, the authors of myTomorrows’ report said. Meanwhile, nearly seven in 10 clinical trial professionals report that recruitment workload limits their ability to focus on patient care or study quality.
“Research sites have become the operational center of modern clinical trial recruitment, yet many still lack the connected infrastructure needed to manage referrals efficiently and at scale,” myTomorrows CEO Michel van Harten, M.D., said in a release.
Amsterdam-based myTomorrows has developed technology to search clinical trials and connect patients, physicians, trial sites and biopharmas, with the goal of accelerating access to investigational drugs. The company recently partnered with clinical trial network Rare Disease Research to increase clinical trial visibility for rare disease patients who have a hard time finding clinical trials.
Two-thirds of responders to myTomorrows’ survey agreed that AI has a role to play in helping detect potential matches for new or amended trials. Additionally, 70% believe that this tech could increase the share of referrals who meet basic eligibility criteria before ever reaching the clinical trial site.