Expert Medical Research Recruiting

The medical industry has seen enormous growth and change over the past two decades and market research has grown and evolved accordingly. Predicted continued growth means that recruiting research respondents will continue to be a critical part of obtaining quality medical market research insights. From this demand, a highly specialized niche has emerged.

Successful medical market research recruiting requires in-depth knowledge of the medical industry, sensitivity to security, privacy and knowledge of privacy laws, along with a willingness to employ multiple approaches to secure quality respondents.

Medical studies cover a wide range of topics from pharmaceutical testing to medical device trials. Studies seek to understand changing attitudes around healthcare, changes in access to medical professionals, usability testing, patient input studies and more. To effectively recruit for so many different research needs, teams of market research experts need to establish trust and rapport with potential respondents that includes both consumers and medical professionals. Extensive databases are just the beginning for what is needed to identify and effectively recruit the right respondent for medical research project success.

Chapter 1: A Growing Industry

The Medical Industry is Growing

The medical industry is booming across a wide range of verticals. While big pharmaceutical companies have become more dependent on mergers and acquisitions to fuel R&D needs, the landscape for growth in the global medical devices market is projected to reach $612.7 billion by 2025.

Experts predict that healthcare spending will increase 5.5 percent annually until 2027. In 2018, Americans spent $3.65 trillion, according to a report from Axios, averaging over $11,000 per person. With all this money being spent on healthcare, it’s no wonder that medical research marketing is an expanding industry. New companies consistently pop up, and long-sustaining industry leaders remain in the game, making the healthcare field an ever-changing and booming business.

According to Deliotte, global health care spending will continue to increase and create opportunity for overall sector growth. Beyond new drugs and medical devices, a rising geriatric population will also drive industry growth.

The Medical Industry Is Changing

A string of global healthcare crises such as AIDS, Zika, COVID-19, obesity and opioid addiction have highlighted a need for disease prevention and wellness outside the traditional healthcare system. Public, non-profit, and commercial enterprises are all involved in this shift. Understanding deeper social components to both disease, chronic conditions, and preventable outbreaks require increased insight about changing social norms, wellness trends and attitudes toward healthcare.

Municipalities and governments also continue to grapple with public policy shifts and the rising cost of healthcare. This, along with the continued growth in the medical device field, will keep the demand for medical market research in growth mode, and quality participant recruiting for medical market research studies in high demand.

Chapter 2: Medical Market Research

Range of Studies

Medical market research happens across the span of the healthcare industry. There are few areas that are unexplored by research teams to gain insights about how people feel about their experiences. Here are just a few of the categories prevalent in the medical research industry:

• Pharmaceutical Trials
• Research and Development Iterative Feedback Loops
• Longitudinal Studies for Health Outcomes
• Brand Trackers
• Efficacy Projects
• Product Testing / Usability Studies
• Consumer Development
• Patient Experience (Voice of Patient)

Because of this wide range of research, multiple methodologies, both qualitative and quantitative, are needed across the industry to address specific research goals. While pharmaceutical drug trials may require participant recruitment with very specific requirements and a long-term commitment to a study with detailed instructions, a brand tracker may rely on a more generalized participant for a quantitative survey response. Focus groups may be required for one-off product testing, but a research and development study may require multiple feedback sessions from the same group of participants.

Shift in Marketing Target

A major shift in the medical industry in the last few decades has been the increase in direct to consumer marketing for everything from new drugs, to medical devices and even to health plans and private insurance products. In the past, pharmaceutical companies and device manufacturers were marketing directly to medical professionals. Now, the consumer is more often than not the primary target of marketing efforts. While medical professionals may introduce new products to their patients, consumers are driving requests for drugs, regimens or medical devices. Because of this shift in consumer behavior, companies now equally need feedback directly from the end-user as well as from medical professionals.

Beyond evaluating products and services, consumers are increasingly sensitive to brand reputation and customer service. Experts report that 80 percent of customers value the experience provided by a company just as much as they do its services or products. Marketing within the medical field has become more complex as companies build their brands increasingly in the general public’s eyes. Studies that go beyond product efficacy, but evaluate brand reputation and perception, need to carefully gather information about consumer sentiment for quality insights that can move a brand forward.

Because of this direct to consumer shift, hospitals, drug companies, healthcare device development companies and many other types of businesses in the medical periphery are looking for more feedback from the public. In these instances, the goals may include a large sample of respondents who are reasonably able to attend focus group meetings or personal interviews.

Chapter 4: Challenges for Medical Market Research Recruiting

Expert medical research recruiting requires experience, detailed databases, networking skills and resourcefulness.

The most successful recruiting experts work hard to earn the trust of potential participants and medical professionals alike. Because recruiting for medical research can be incredibly nuanced, hiring a recruiting team with fieldwork experience can save time and money – helping you achieve quality outcomes and stay focused on the research. Consider these issues when evaluating a recruiting team for your next project:

Geographical Challenges

While the results of medical research can have national and even global ramifications, studies may start with very set limitations. Some projects start specifically in a confined locale and then grow into multi-market projects. Others may need one study with very few people but with a significant spread to represent the nation geographically. A research project also may want to pull from within an age group or generation within a specific region. Each of these potential recruiting needs requires having access to both a national and local database that is proactively maintained and keeps a record of past study participation.

Ever-Changing Respondent Data

Medical research often involves stringent criteria with many exclusions or combinations of factors. When researchers need respondents that fit narrowly focused criteria, recruiters often start with extensive medical databases. Keeping a database for medical research requires constant recruiting and proactive file maintenance. Beyond typical database care, a medical database requires detailed tracking of conditions, specialties, subspecialties, education level, number of years in practice, past research participation and more. Databases that can be used for efficient medical research recruiting can track detail for both patient and medical professional populations. Great recruiters go beyond databases to cast a wider net to connect with potential respondents, but starting with a solid database is essential to help gauge the time needed to move forward with particularly challenging studies.

Keeping Up with HIPAA and Other Security Protocols

HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) safeguards patients’ medical information and health history and provides for data security. HIPAA rules need to be followed from the beginning of any project from proper screener set up to the storage of recruiting data and database security. Regardless of the number of vendors employed to realize a research project, each is responsible for a faithful execution of HIPPA regulations beyond professional confidentiality and operational security protocols.

Blind Experiment Protocols

Specific needs, such as filling a blinded experiment, require additional skill to maintain the integrity of the study. Withholding certain elements of the research can be an integral part of eliminating experimental biases and should be communicated to all involved with the study and included in the participant recruiting protocol.

Dealing with Respondent Limitations

Another aspect of medical research recruiting that requires tact and skill lies in the handling of limitations. Some patients may have conditions which limit their mobility or require special services to participate in studies. Sensitivity when calling for confirmations is a great practice to eliminate no-shows. Empathetic recruiters know how to anticipate how certain conditions or diseases may create situations where the respondent is genuine in their desire to participate, but the condition creates unpredictability with their ability to manage chronic pain, depression or deal in any other way with changes in their health. Building trust with key respondents is required to show good faith in accommodating issues as they may arise. Showing empathy when recruiting can increase the quality of respondents willing to overcome the challenges of participation even when they are significant. When respondent limitations become a large obstacle for in-person interviews, online research can be an effective solution.

Navigating the Practice

It can be extremely helpful to connect with medical professionals to determine how challenging a goal or objective may be. Extensive relationships with medical professionals and medical offices can help point a recruiter in a previously unseen direction. Beyond knowledge of individual staff members, it is important to understand specific policies at certain institutions or hospital systems. Navigating the hierarchy of teaching hospitals, private practices, group practices or hospitals that may have policies keeping their doctors from participating in outside research is a key part to moving quickly to fill a study.

Chapter 6: Finding an Expert Medical Recruiting Partner

Research projects are moving at a faster pace than ever before. Insights departments are being asked to do more with less and get it done quicker without sacrificing quality. A project cannot get into the field until the critical task of recruiting participants is completed. This places quality market research recruitment at a critical juncture of ensuring projects are completed well, on time and within budget. Finding an expert medical recruiting partner with extensive databases, years of experience, sensitivity to issues and knowledge of the medical industry can be a daunting task. Here is a list of questions to ask when vetting potential
partners for your next medical research study:

• What medical detail do you already know about those currently in your database?
• Do you have examples of low incidence medical condition recruiting success?
• What methods outside of proprietary databases do you employ to find potential medical research participants?
• How do your recruiters discuss potential disability accommodation with potential recruits?
• How experienced are the recruiters in your phone room with medical terminology?
• Will my project have a single point of contact?
• Do you offer a one-call solution for multi-location projects?
• What kind of experience does your team have recruiting surgeons, doctors or other specialists in the medical field?
• What kind of daily feedback is given to clients about recruiting progress and quota fulfillment?
• Do you offer a collaborative approach regarding challenges with the screener?
• With what kind of local and national medical groups does your recruiting office maintain relationships?
• How do you proactively build your databases?

In the end, industry expertise matters greatly but knowing specifically why certain partners excel in the medical marketing research recruiting field can lead to better project success. Knowing how a partner will focus on quick turnaround times, can adapt to methods, and maintain confidentiality can bring confidence in the data emerging from the research.

Recruiting qualified respondents can make or break your medical research study. They provide invaluable insights, and offer important intel, and actionable learnings. The medical industry continues to grow and change every day. New medications are introduced into the market, new discoveries are made about treatment efficacy, new major medical devices require user feedback. These initiatives require research. Keeping pace with the high demands of sourcing quality respondents for today and tomorrow’s medical breakthroughs is a demanding but rewarding job. When your project requires medical research recruiting expertise, and highly responsive communication, call the expert team at Fieldwork.

Focus on the research. We’ll do the rest.