While it might seem odd to ask patients about their experiences when they’re visiting the doctor, gathering patient feedback has numerous benefits both for the clinical trial and the patients involved. Understanding the challenges of running patient engagement surveys in clinical trials will help you create more effective and successful surveys that deliver actionable data to improve your clinical trial process in a number of ways.
The most important questions to ask in patient engagement surveys and how to interpret and compare the data obtained from each one will help you not only to better manage your clinical trial but also to provide better service to the patients who participated in it.
What Are The Challenges And Concerns Of Running a Patient Engagement Survey
There may be people who do not believe setting time aside to create patient engagement surveys for clinical trials is worth while. What they need to understand is that you are putting forth a bit of extra time in the beginning of the study to save time and resources later. If you take the time to conduct these surveys early on, you may save time and resources later on down the study by making corrections early on.
These are just some of the most common concerns when it comes to patient engagement surveys. One more you may want to consider is that if your trial is being run by a CRO or contract research organization (CRO), they may not be so happy about having these surveys done as it makes their job harder (e.g. they have to analyze results, and they don’t get paid per patient).
Choosing the right patient engagement survey company to assist you is a very important part of running successful patient engagement survey. The best ones are not only proficient in their job but also open and flexible to suggestions and concerns. It’s a good idea to ask around if you have colleagues that have done clinical trials before, as they may be able to offer advice on specific companies they’ve used in their trials.
Don’t just choose based on price, as there may be more affordable options that will provide much worse results! Sometimes it might be worthwhile paying extra for professional advice and customer service than getting a cheaper deal with lots of problems down the line.
Once you have your survey questions, how do you go about executing them? You may want to check out our previous post on how to recruit patients for clinical trials. Although patient engagement surveys are not exactly recruitment surveys, there are some similarities in terms of sampling.
Whatever your concerns, it is important to know that there are solutions to all of these problems. You can speak with experienced patient engagement survey companies and ask for their advice, or you can even ask for a trial run on a smaller scale before conducting your full survey. After all, it’s not just about getting good answers but making sure you get them in time!
Another thing to be aware of is that surveys are not just about patient feedback. They can also be used to measure adherence and other soft outcomes, so keep that in mind as well when preparing your survey questions.
Even if you don’t choose to analyze it right away, having that information may become helpful later on. It’s also a good idea to consult an expert who understands trial results and outcomes before designing your survey questions. Although you want something quick and easy to fill out, make sure they cover all essential aspects of your clinical trial (both technical and non-technical) so that you get a representative set of data.
Another important factor in designing your survey is whether you want to collect real-time data or historical data. The former allows you to get feedback while a clinical trial is still ongoing, which could help make changes to improve patient experience and adherence, whereas collecting data at a later date only helps you assess long-term impact of specific interventions.
Data collection systems can also range from online forms and electronic questionnaires via email or webpages to paper based surveys, depending on your resources and preferences. Whatever system you choose for collecting responses, make sure it’s accessible to patients with disabilities and easy for them to use – don’t just expect them to have a smartphone!
Some of your respondents may find it hard to give feedback due to emotional reasons. The best way to handle these cases is by having a rapport with them and not rushing them into giving answers. That said, you also don’t want your interviewers taking too long as it could have an impact on other patients that need their time.
The same goes for staff at facilities – they might prefer interacting with interviewers that are easy to work with so make sure you pick people who are friendly and respectful but also efficient in getting results. Having a call sheet or survey manual ready can help remind interviewers of what has been asked earlier so they don’t ask redundant questions or forget what was asked previously in another part of a survey.
What Are The Most Important Questions To Ask In A Survey
There are dozens of questions you can ask and there is no right number to choose. The more questions you ask, the better as it helps determine which topics require follow-up work. However, a question with more responses generally will have less power so keep that in mind. You also don’t want to burn out your patients with so many questions that they stop responding fully and honestly.
After setting your survey questions, you need to decide when you want to send them out. Most surveys are sent out electronically with an incentive (usually a small amount of money). It’s best to offer your participants several incentives based on their answers. For example, if someone returns her survey by a certain date, she might be eligible for one bonus. If they submit additional information about themselves, they might receive another bonus for that info.
There are several different survey platforms available and many offer free versions. If you’re not sure which one to use, you can hire a company to design and run your surveys for you. However, it’s usually better to learn about surveys yourself if at all possible so that you can repeat it as needed or be in charge of future surveys yourself. It can be helpful to review current surveys before beginning a new one so that you get ideas for questions that haven’t been asked yet.
Here are some examples of questions you could ask on your patient engagement survey:
- How often do you see your doctor?
- How many different doctors have you seen in the past year?
- How often do you receive preventive care, such as screenings and vaccinations?
- How often are you able to get a same-day or next-day appointment when you are sick?
- How often do you have to wait more than two weeks for a routine appointment?
- When you visit the doctor, how often does he or she spend more time with you than with other patients?
- Does your doctor usually spend enough time answering all of your questions?
- How often do you get test results back within a week?
- How much confidence do you have in your doctor?
When Do You Interpret The Data Obtained From The Clinical Survey
You will want to interpret the data obtained from the clinical survey when you have collected enough data to get a reliable result. The amount of data needed will depend on the type of survey, the population being surveyed, and the desired level of precision. The most important questions to ask in patient engagement surveys are those that will help you understand how well the clinical trial is going and if there are any issues that need to be addressed.
There are a variety of different types of questions you can ask. Some questions ask about specific aspects of your treatment or clinical trial and some will be based on more general topics.
For example, you might want to know how many times patients had to come back for additional testing or if they were satisfied with their experience in terms of speediness, friendliness and care provided by staff members. You may also want to know how patient-centered your clinical trial is and whether there are any areas that could be improved upon or modified.
The most important questions to ask will vary depending on your goals for conducting patient engagement surveys in clinical trials. If you’re looking for areas that need improvement, you may want to know how satisfied patients are with their level of involvement and whether they feel they are a part of the research process. You might also ask if they felt informed about what was going on and if they understood why certain procedures were needed and what kind of outcome might be expected as a result.
What are the five phases of the patient engagement framework?
The first phase of the patient engagement framework is identification. This is when you determine which patients you want to include in your trial. The second phase is screening, which is when you determine if those patients are eligible for your trial. The third phase is enrollment, which is when you enroll those patients into your trial. The fourth phase is participation, which is when you get those patients to actually participate in your trial. And the fifth and final phase is follow-up, which is when you follow up with those patients after they’ve completed the trial.
The point of all five phases is to identify patients who are willing and interested in participating in your trial. And while you might be inclined to leave identification until later, it’s actually one of your most important responsibilities because it determines how well you’re able to get participants. If you only run one survey at a time, then identification becomes even more critical because it’s vital that your target patients take that survey (and are able to take it).
One of your first tasks will be evaluating surveys. This process can help reveal problems with enrollment and participation as well as issues with other aspects of patient engagement. For example, you might find that certain treatments aren’t popular or certain campaigns aren’t effective.
You should also make sure that your target patients know what to expect. Let them know how they’ll be involved and then let them know what those expectations are. Remember that different patient types have different communication preferences and needs. For example, some patients may be averse to receiving emails while others would prefer it over calling. So make sure you consider all of your options before deciding on a method of patient engagement.
Why You Should Run a Patient Survey Clinical Trial
The primary benefit of patient engagement surveys is that they allow patients to share their perspective on how well they are being treated. One challenge to overcome is overcoming time and language barriers that often arise during this process.
One way to do this is by partnering with an experienced provider for these surveys who understands the importance of each question asked and has already established relationships with patients. Another challenge associated with running patient engagement surveys is ensuring that all groups within the population are included.
While this might seem like a simple task, there are often major differences between men versus women or younger versus older adults in regards to their satisfaction levels. For example, older adults generally have lower rates of both treatment adherence and overall satisfaction compared to younger adults. Due to this discrepancy, it’s important for clinical researchers not only include older adults but analyze responses separately for both age groups.
Analyzing data from patient survey clinical trial allows researchers to measure how satisfied their participants are with different aspects of clinical trial, including adherence to treatment regimens, care received by providers, and overall satisfaction. Because these surveys allow patients to share all of their concerns and opinions on how well they are being treated, they are an important part of ensuring that clinical trials succeed in providing optimal care for participants.
By analyzing survey responses across different subgroups and comparing them to results from other forms of patient engagement surveys conducted in previous years, it is possible to determine trends across populations. A survey may reveal that patients responded more favorably in 2017 compared to previous years regarding issues such as medication tolerability or overall satisfaction with study staff and care.
It is essential to use patient engagement surveys that are customized for specific subgroups. If a survey doesn’t take these differences into account, responses may not be reliable and may give an inaccurate picture of how satisfied participants are with treatment. If a survey asks about how happy participants are with their medications, they should make sure to list multiple medications in order to get an accurate representation of how patients feel about all options available.
Not taking such details into account can lead to conclusions that aren’t based on true observations because different subgroups will experience higher levels of satisfaction depending on what treatments were offered.
These issues need to be considered and addressed when designing patient engagement surveys. With careful attention paid to what questions are asked, it is possible to collect data that helps researchers better understand how satisfied patients are with their clinical trial.
By conducting surveys throughout a clinical trial, it is also possible to track changes in participant satisfaction based on a variety of factors such as time, demographics or treatment regimens offered. Combining high-quality findings from multiple patient engagement surveys allows researchers to gain insights into general trends within specific subgroups of participants and compare these findings over time.
Clinical trials may be carried out in various countries or, more commonly, in a specific region of a country or by a single country. Within each clinical trial, there are often multiple sites where study is conducted. For example, multi-center trials are often conducted across different regions within one country.
By conducting clinical trials at multiple sites and assessing findings based on participant responses from all locations, it is possible to get a better understanding of how well participants felt they were being treated across different geographic regions and with various treatments available.
By understanding and comparing findings based on region, it is possible to get a better picture of how effective new drugs are when they’re offered in multiple locations. However, it is also important to note that some issues arise when comparing data from clinical trials with findings collected at individual sites.
As mentioned earlier, clinical trial participants may respond differently depending on how clearly directions are provided and how seriously they take their obligation as research volunteers. Due to these limitations and others, patient survey data should be evaluated carefully before making conclusions about trends in participant satisfaction.
