Recruitment of dermatological patients for clinical trials in a private practice setting

Summary: Abstract Body: This study aims to evaluate how new patients were recruited to in-house clinical research trials in dermatologic private practice institutions. This will aid to better understand the most effective and efficient recruitment strategies in dermatology clinical trials. The observational study investigates data from clinical research performed by Optima Research in Boardman, Ohio and Indiana Clinical Trials Center (ICTC) in Plainfield, Indiana. Both locations have in-house clinical research teams working in suburban dermatology private practice institutions. All patients who were recruited from 2020 to 2024 and had submitted their referral information to a platform called CRIO were included in the study. The majority of new patients who were successfully recruited to suburban dermatology clinical trials were by internal provider referrals (50%). Patients were also recruited through paid trial advertising campaigns (35%) and other sources (15%), which included friends and family, leads through the Optima Research and ICTC websites, and external provider referrals. All methods of recruitment played a role in the growth of the clinical trial patient population in a suburban dermatology clinical trials setting, delineating that a multi-faceted approach is best to recruit the highest number of patients who could benefit from clinical trials. Internal provider referral was the most successful way overall to recruit patients which is a cost effective and efficient way to recruit patients to trials and exemplifies the importance of incorporating clinical trials in private practice institutions. Alexis R. Bernat⁵, Patrick L. Shannon^{1, 3}, Scott T. Guenthner^{2, 4} 1. Optima Research, Boardman, OH, United States. 2. Indiana Clinical Trials Center, Plainfield, IN, United States. 3. Dermatology, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, OH, United States. 4. The Dermatology Center of Indiana, Plainfield, IN, United States. 5. Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, United States. Clinical Research: Epidemiology and Observational Research