SCOPE 2019

Sites challenged with fragmented processes that ‘drain resources’

21-Feb-2019 - Last updated on 01-Mar-2019 at 15:38 GMT

(Image: Getty/ Jirapong Manustrong)

Clinical trial sites are challenged by fragmented financial processes, according to a new study by the Society of Clinical Research sites and Greenphire released this week at SCOPE 2019.

Greenphire, a clinical trial payment automation solutions provider, and the Society for Clinical Research Sites’ (SCRS) study collected responses from 527 participants globally and confirmed that trial sites face challenges before a study is even launched

Survey responses:

90% of respondents prefer to work with sponsors and CROs that pay more frequently
81% say quality transportation is important for recruiting and retention purposes – a top hurdle for sites
74% of sites indicated they spend a minimum of one hour compiling and creating invoices per study per month
50% of survey respondents said the biggest challenge in budget negotiations was getting appropriate funding for the study

“It’s essential to track key pain points over time – not only to measure progress but also to identify areas to connect fragmented financial processes encountered by sites and bring new innovative solutions to the life science industry,” Kyle Cunningham, chief product officer, Greenphire told us in regards to what spurred the study.

Cunningham also explained that the research conducted as part of this study goes deeper than other studies the company has conducted. He said this new study “aims to recognize the full spectrum of financial and administrative challenges that clinical research sites face, to truly understand a day in the life of clinical research site personnel and associated challenges leading up to study start-up and once studies are being actively managed.”

Based on the research conducted it is believed that once a site has the opportunity to support a study, the site is then immediately faced with fragmented manual processes that “drain resources.”

The draining of resources often leads to challenges in the payment processes. Cunningham listed these payment lifecycle challenges as budgets, invoicing, site payments.

According to the findings, while progress is being made there are sites that still face challenges at every stage of the payment lifecycle, and these challenges impact the quality, speed, and accuracy of the sites work.

“Many of these burdens are well known,” said Cunningham. “They’ve [sites] have voiced where pain points are, and we believe it's our responsibility to act to transform the entire financial journey from patient to site to sponsor in a holistic way.”