Before a clinical trial can even have a hope of succeeding, it needs one thing: patients. Faced with a limited amount of recruitment time and even smaller budgets, companies often fall short of reaching their recruitment goals.
In yesterday’s session, "Technology-Based Solutions and Social Media Strategies for Patient Recruitment, Enrollment, and Retention," John Burnett, CEO and Founder of JAPA Associates, and Dennis Upah, Executive Vice President of HealthCentral, discussed how social media can help recruit more patients in a less expensive and faster manner than other tactics used in the past. The session touched on how to develop effective marketing and communication by leveraging technology for patient recruitment and how to determine key considerations in your strategy with different therapeutic areas. Attendees also learned about relatively new FDA regulations regarding social recruitment.
Another topic addressed during the session was best practices of the use of technology in patient recruitment abroad versus in the United States. Research indicates that there are similar conversion rates for online recruitment throughout the world. Although some companies might want to avoid using social media at all in the United States, doing so would mean missing out on one of the best ways to reach its targeted demographic.
Besides offering a more efficient way of recruiting patients whether in the United States or abroad, social media allows companies to find the specific type of patient they are looking for.
“By their very nature, the vast majority of clinical trials are seeking an increasingly narrow audience of potential participants. Continuing, therefore, to rely on a broadcast medium to find them no longer makes sense,” Upah said in an interview with Applied Clinical Trials.
Patients are starting to form their own communities online in order to share information about their specific medical conditions. Pharmaceutical companies can reach out to these groups through informational websites, advertising on social media, and using social media itself. And just because social media may be cheaper, don’t think it means less work.
“An online community has to be nurtured over time, and a variety of tactics need to be tried as each trial in each disease state is different,” Upah said. “It may take a tremendous amount of time to work their way through regulatory issues and build a community that they can create trust with.”
Companies also have to learn how to handle other specific social media issues such as dealing with adverse event reporting in a timely manner, and portraying accurate medical data without destroying the free flow of communication that a social forum should encompass.
In addition, CROs should be aware of the different regulatory guidelines that govern social media. For instance, most regulations currently are for companies that host their own forums rather than for companies that place advertisements on an already-existing site. Thus, because CROs are often given a recruitment period of months and not years, it is often preferable for a company to partner with a health community rather than create a unique forum. Upah stressed the notion that building a relationship was key to receiving the best results regardless of whether or not a CRO forms its own social media group or advertises on an existing one.
“You would not throw a cocktail party without any friends and just expect people to show up. First, you would nurture a relationship with those friends, make them feel safe and trusted, ensure that both you and they feel there is something of value within the relationship, and only then would you throw the party,” Upah said. “Leveraging an online community is the same way.”
Social Media Challenges and Solutions
Before a clinical trial can even have a hope of succeeding, it needs one thing: patients. Faced with a limited amount of recruitment time and even smaller budgets, companies often fall short of reaching their recruitment goals.
In yesterday’s session, "Technology-Based Solutions and Social Media Strategies for Patient Recruitment, Enrollment, and Retention," John Burnett, CEO and Founder of JAPA Associates, and Dennis Upah, Executive Vice President of HealthCentral, discussed how social media can help recruit more patients in a less expensive and faster manner than other tactics used in the past. The session touched on how to develop effective marketing and communication by leveraging technology for patient recruitment and how to determine key considerations in your strategy with different therapeutic areas. Attendees also learned about relatively new FDA regulations regarding social recruitment.
Another topic addressed during the session was best practices of the use of technology in patient recruitment abroad versus in the United States. Research indicates that there are similar conversion rates for online recruitment throughout the world. Although some companies might want to avoid using social media at all in the United States, doing so would mean missing out on one of the best ways to reach its targeted demographic.
Besides offering a more efficient way of recruiting patients whether in the United States or abroad, social media allows companies to find the specific type of patient they are looking for.
“By their very nature, the vast majority of clinical trials are seeking an increasingly narrow audience of potential participants. Continuing, therefore, to rely on a broadcast medium to find them no longer makes sense,” Upah said in an interview with Applied Clinical Trials.
Patients are starting to form their own communities online in order to share information about their specific medical conditions. Pharmaceutical companies can reach out to these groups through informational websites, advertising on social media, and using social media itself. And just because social media may be cheaper, don’t think it means less work.
“An online community has to be nurtured over time, and a variety of tactics need to be tried as each trial in each disease state is different,” Upah said. “It may take a tremendous amount of time to work their way through regulatory issues and build a community that they can create trust with.”
Companies also have to learn how to handle other specific social media issues such as dealing with adverse event reporting in a timely manner, and portraying accurate medical data without destroying the free flow of communication that a social forum should encompass.
In addition, CROs should be aware of the different regulatory guidelines that govern social media. For instance, most regulations currently are for companies that host their own forums rather than for companies that place advertisements on an already-existing site. Thus, because CROs are often given a recruitment period of months and not years, it is often preferable for a company to partner with a health community rather than create a unique forum. Upah stressed the notion that building a relationship was key to receiving the best results regardless of whether or not a CRO forms its own social media group or advertises on an existing one.
“You would not throw a cocktail party without any friends and just expect people to show up. First, you would nurture a relationship with those friends, make them feel safe and trusted, ensure that both you and they feel there is something of value within the relationship, and only then would you throw the party,” Upah said. “Leveraging an online community is the same way.”
Newsletter
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Report: Clinical Trial Searches Delay Treatment for Nearly 75% of Physicians
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Alexion’s Dual-Binding Nanobody Demonstrates Statistically Significant Improvements in Generalized Myasthenia Gravis
Results from the Phase III PREVAIL trial (NCT05556096) of gefurulimab demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in Myasthenia Gravis Activities of Daily Living at 26 weeks compared to placebo.
Unifying Industry to Better Understand GCP Guidance
In this episode of the Applied Clinical Trials Podcast, David Nickerson, head of clinical quality management at EMD Serono; and Arlene Lee, director of product management, data quality & risk management solutions at Medidata, discuss the newest ICH E6(R3) GCP guidelines as well as how TransCelerate and ACRO have partnered to help stakeholders better acclimate to these guidelines.
Obefazimod Achieves Clinical Remission in Phase III Ulcerative Colitis Trials
Results from the Phase III ABTECT-1 (NCT05507203) and ABTECT-2 (NCT05507216) trials showed that Abivax’s obefazimod demonstrated significant clinical remission in patients with ulcerative colitis.
Unlock Commercial Growth through Data-Driven Patient and HCP Insights Podcast
May 2nd 2025FDA’s Elsa AI Tool Raises Accuracy and Oversight Concerns
Despite ambitions to streamline regulatory review, FDA’s Elsa platform has been prone to hallucinations, prompting internal scrutiny and questions about AI reliability and governance.
Report: Clinical Trial Searches Delay Treatment for Nearly 75% of Physicians
A new myTomorrows survey of physicians in the United States highlights the need for smarter, AI-driven tools to overcome inefficiencies in clinical trial access and improve patient care timelines.