RxTrials Communiqué - A Blog About Clinical Research

As the all saying goes, "There is a time and place for everything". 
 
The same goes with investigator meetings!  
 
“Not all investigator meetings have to be on-site and not all on-site investigator meetings have to be on-line!” 
 
When technology, and specifically web-based meetings, began more than 10 years ago, most people though that it was the means to ending investigator meetings all together. Today we realize that technologies are not the final solution to every problem we face in our industry, or every investigator meeting, but rather it is one of the many catalysts that we can use to streamline the processes of communications and training. 
 
Technology companies now understand that we need to work closely with industry professionals in order to find “Blended Solutions” that can incorporate every day managerial and training processes into technology solutions. 
 
Most sponsors and CRO’s are just now beginning to understand and are becoming more aware of how they can make the investigator sites jobs easier by understanding how and when technology should be used. However, this takes time, teamwork and communication between the sponsor, site and CRO. I believe that when we as an industry understand that this is the true means-to-the-end we will finally find the “Holy Grail”

Interesting.... 
 
 
 
For the last 4 years all of our SMC and DSMB meetings have been electronic using various technologies: conference calls, video casts, conference calls with web based content. 
 
 
 
When this was instituted, the members were nearly unanimous in their excitement and acceptance of this technologic leap that did not require them to travel with large binders of data. 
 
 
 
But something has changed. The members of these groups are increasingly asking for face to face meeting. And these requests are increasingly pointed and direct. 
 
 
 
The members are not asking out of nostalgia. The government doesn't fly them to nice places, or have open bars, or spa treatments.  
 
 
 
The social or networking aspects are clearly part of this pushback. The words/terms that appears more and more in these requests are "understanding" "reaction from none speaking members to ideas or statements" and "non verbal communication". 
 
 
 
Individuals on these committees are dancing around the word trust. They want to know who they should listen to a little more carefully. Sometimes this can come across a technologic link, but not always and not easily for many. 
 
 
 
So we are investigating how and when to incorporate face to face meetings back into these groups. We too are looking for the right blend to maximize the use of our resources: time, money, people. 
 
 
 
Rich Gorman, MD 
 
Associate Director for Clinical Research, 
 
DMID/NIAID/NIH 
 
 
 

I have recently conducted a survey. Respondants included 215 researcherd, mostly CRAs and coordinators, but also included some investigators and site managers. They overwhelming choose face-to-face investigators meetings over other web-based and internet-based meetings- by a margin of 83% to 16%. (It doesn't total to 100% because of write-ins, but you get the idea.)

Jill - This is a very interesting finding for sure. We all hear about how much everyone dislikes the notion of having to go to so many PI meetings, but clearly your results to not support this message. 
 
 
 
Two things come to my mind –  
 
1 - people who participated in the survey are already above the norm because they took the extra time to contribute their thoughts and therefore they see the value of the meeting (be it for the science of the social); 2 - if asked do I like either live or web PI meetings - the idea of sitting in front of a computer listening to 6 or 8 hours of a PI meeting equivalent is so intolerable I'd opt to hop on a plane for a quick flight and just "get it over with". I’m sure there are other reasons but these two quickly come to me. 
 
 
 
So with that I'd ask this group - how can PI meetings be them in person or on line be conducted in a far more powerful and meaningful way? Because at the end of the day I think the major compliant with these meetings is not where or how they're held but more the content shared and therefore why are they held. A hugh opportunity exists to make significant differences at this time and unfortunately I think it's mostly lost. So what suggestions can we come up with to move this in the right direction – what should be done during PI meetings to fully utilize this time for all involved?