1. Social Media in Clinical Research
Apollo Research Group

2. Methods of Recruitment
Within clinical research the most commonly used methods of recruitment include:
Newspaper Ads
Radio Ads
TV Ads
Kremidas, Jim. Recruitment Roles: Sponsors, CROs, and investigator sites must all work together for effective patient recruitment. Available at: icaltrialsonline.com/appliedclinicaltrials/Articles/Recruitment-Roles/ArticleStandard/Article/ detail/738753?contextCategoryId=44911

3. Recruitment and Enrollment Makeover?
A report from …. , indicates that approximately 1/3 of the time dedicated to a clinical trial, is patient recruitment and enrollment
Interestingly enough, 80% of trials fail to meet enrollment timelines
37 % of sites fail to meet enrollment expectations
>10 % don’t even enroll a single subject
Inventive Health brochure

4. Why is enrollment becoming more difficult?
Recruitment will only become a more difficult obstacle that will have to be overcome
Regulatory agencies are now demanding more, larger, and longer studies
There are only so many potential subjects fitting the target population
Many protocol require naïve subjects, and as more studies start this pool begins to shrink, and enrollment becomes more difficult

6. The Number$
For a Phase III study, sponsors generally only spend 7 – 9 % of trial budget to attract patients
For the most part, both sponsors and CROs, are only relying on traditional means of recruitment
ie. Physician referrals, mass media advertising

7. The Issue…
The original timelines for Phase II-IV studies usually end up doubling in order to meet desired enrollment levels 3
Each day that a drug development program is delayed costs the sponsor $37K in operational costs 4 and $600K to $8M in lost opportunity costs
What most in the industry have not yet adjusted to is the fact that patients and caregivers have changed how and where they seek and nd information— especially healthcare information.

8. Current Social Media Regulations

9. e-Patients and e-Caregivers
e-patinets and e-caregivers is made up of a group of informed health consumers who use the internet to gether information about a medical condition and engage in, online patient communities
i.e. PatientsLikeMe®, Ben’s Friends
Consumers use these forums to, seek advice from one another, share experiences, and to cope with stress of illness or caregiving

10. e-Patients and e-Caregivers
Interesting, although the use of social media is strongest among young adults, half of people over 50 and more than a third of people over 65 frequent social networking sites (See Figure 4).

11. Stats 80 % of those on the Web are seeking healthcare information
50 % of health information searches within the U.S. are on behalf of someone else
62 % of U.S. adults living with one or more chronic conditions go online
41 % of U.S. Internet users read about others’ medical experiences on social websites or blogs
And, people are using the Internet to converse with others about health as never before:
Facebook boasts 1.11 billion members in 2013, globally
33 % of U.S. adults use social media to gather medical information, share symptoms and experiences, or rate drugs, providers, and health plans
33 % of U.S. caregivers participate in online social activities
One in three online seniors in the U.S. uses social networking sites such as Facebook

12. Stats
And, increasingly, patients and caregivers are using mobile devices to retrieve healthcare information anytime, anywhere. All indications are that digital communication formats should accommodate mobile use as a matter of course:
88 percent of all U.S. adults own a cell phone (and about half of them are smart phones), including seven in ten seniors
Healthcare is the fastest growing content category for mobile device users
The Apple iTunes store offers over 1,000 medical applications designed for patients

13. Why isn’t social media used more frequently?
Add to these commonly held, albeit misguided, beliefs a natural inclination to “stick with what we know,” and it is easy to understand why the industry as a whole has been reluctant to make the transition to new media.

14. How can we utilize social media?
That’s where we come in!
6 years of experience with Photoshop
4 years of clinical research experience
2 years of social media marketing experience
We understand how valuable your time is, and that’s why when you work with us you are our #1 focus