Using Workflow Mapping to Improve the Recruitment Process in Clinical Trials

(Originally presented abstract at 2019 Annual Conference San Antonio)
Sara Sampaio MD, CCRP,*, Sepideh Saroukhani MD, MS, PhD candidate, Aryn Knight BS, CCRP, Jennifer L. Chambers RN, BSN, CCRC,
Emerson C. Perin MD, PhD, FA

Introduction

In this article, we describe the strategies and approaches developed at the Center for Clinical Research at Texas Heart Institute (THI) in Houston, Texas, to facilitate efficient participant recruitment for heart failure–related randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Randomized trials are typically complex in terms of the target population, protocol design, and intervention strategies — factors that can hinder the recruitment of a sufficient number of eligible participants. Thus, detailed upstream planning is crucial to guide recruitment efforts — especially in trials that focus on serious medical conditions such as heart failure — and a trained recruitment team is needed to execute protocol-specified tasks. Despite extensive literature on strategies for enhancing participant recruitment in research, little has been reported about the actual activities and experiences associated with recruitment and about the impact of organizational strategies on this work.

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