INC joins with SCRS to create site advocacy group on investigator payments

19-Apr-2015 - Last updated on 20-Apr-2015 at 13:27 GMT

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Cash-strapped investigator sites seeking new ways to ensure they get paid promptly will find some new forms of relief in a recently formed Site Advocacy Group (SAG) created by INC Research and the Society for Clinical Research Sites (SCRS).

The SAG, which is the second for INC, was established in response to specific site feedback noting financial challenges related to sustainability. According to the 2014 Site Solutions Summit Survey conducted by SCRS, 65% of sites have less than three months’ operating cash on hand. The survey also concluded that pass-through items are increasing for sites, placing more pressure on cash flow management.

Clare Grace, VP of Site and Patient Access at INC, told Outsourcing-Pharma.com that INC and SCRS are working together to help alleviate the administrative burden of processing payments via new Web-based tools that sites will be able to adopt.

SCRS members are invited to join the Investigator Payment SAG, which will kick-off later this year. Grace told us there will be between 10 and 15 participating sites or networks of sites in this latest SAG. INC joins industry group TransCelerate BioPharma and Eli Lilly in leading relevant SAGs to more closely align the work of the sites and industry across the research ecosystem.

“If we can reduce the administrative burden, we can allow them to focus more on patients,” Grace said, noting that a lot of sponsors often pay on a per procedure or per visit basis, which can quickly get complicated from an administrative standpoint.

“We’re trying to provide information to them in a way to cut down resources to manage their payments,” Grace added, noting the SAG is looking at an interactive portal that can take away some of the paper-based burden.