CRO Streamlines Study Start-up Process by Automating Site Feasibility Studies

Problem:

CRO was usually tasked with the responsibility of selecting sites for new studies
Feasibility questionnaires were mailed or faxed to potential sites to assess the suitability of the investigators and the sites for the study
CRAs often encountered frustrating delays in trying to get the questionnaires back from the sites
Sites usually took a long time to complete the questions and CRAs had to constantly remind them to return the forms
Not uncommon for CRAs to spend 1 to 4 weeks waiting for the forms to be returned
Returned forms often contained errors or were incomplete
Unnecessary time was also spent manually entering the information collected into Excel or a company database

Replace the existing paper questionnaires with online questionnaires
Develop an automated reminder system to ensure that investigators complete the questionnaires promptly
New process should automatically capture and store the information provided by the sites in a central database

VISTA, the customized, web-based solution proposed by SST, employed online questionnaire technology to gather feasibility information from sites
Automated email reminders helped to speed up response rates of investigators significantly
Automatic prompts within questionnaires ensured that users completed all important questions before submitting the forms, thus minimizing missing information