The Society for Clinical Research Sites (SCRS) has released a toolkit that provides best practices for sites on recruiting/retaining staff members, maximizing revenue and cutting costs amid record high levels of inflation leading to higher healthcare worker costs.

The Site Toolkit to Address Workforce Challenges and Inflation contains the successful approaches of many of the society’s largest site network members in these areas and is available to all SCRS members.

The toolkit is accompanied by an open letter to sponsors and CROs on workforce hurdles that outlines concerning survey data gathered by SCRS and urges them to communicate with sites, renegotiate budgets and look for staff at nonsite sources.

The society’s Staff Turnover Survey of sites showed that rates are significantly higher than in the past, with site networks averaging double their typical turnover rates of patient-facing staff, rising from 10 to 37 percent in prepandemic times to current rates of 35 to 61 percent. SCRS attributes this to a number of factors, including the Great Resignation and staff being drawn away by competing companies, including sponsors and CROs.

SCRS estimates that site overhead costs in the next six to 18 months will continue to increase at record rates and advises that monthly payments be made to sites, rather than quarterly payments and the use of holdbacks, which it says creates significant barriers for sites.

“Even the most experienced sites are stating that we cannot solve this as a site industry alone and need the resources and assistance from our sponsor and CRO colleagues,” the open letter says. “When our sites are suffering, our studies are suffering. By working together, we can ensure the durability of sites to continue to deliver reliable study conduct and patient care.”

Read the open letter here: https://bit.ly/3kG1QpE.

Access the toolkit here: https://bit.ly/3LRqOOF.