Site staff believe more telecommunication technology will be needed to get trials back on their feet post-pandemic and say they need help from sponsors and CROs to implement alternative approaches to in-person patient visits, according to a new report.

Respondents to a survey conducted by Clinical SCORE said it will take 5 to 6 months on average to recover from financial losses and return the number of trials being activated to pre-COVID-19 levels. Financial recovery will require scaling up remote and virtual visits to make up for loss of staff during the pandemic.

Most of the 255 survey respondents expect the number of in-person site visits to decline, and 62 percent said telephone communications will see the greatest increase, followed by virtual visits (e.g., web-based video visits) at 51 percent and remote visits conducted at facilities other than the trial sites at 47 percent. Home visits also will increase, according to 20 percent of respondents.

Three-quarters of respondents said they need more support from sponsors for the protocol changes required to implement virtual and remote visits as well as funding to do so. One-third called for CRO assistance in executing remote visits.

To read the report, click here: https://bit.ly/32s8ZBR.