Strategic Clinical Outsourcing Considerations: The Interdependency Of Clinical Drivers

By Kevin Boos, RDP Clinical Outsourcing, Scott Connor, Acurian, and Meenal Patel, RDP Clinical Outsourcing

A solid outsourcing strategy is critical to leading your organization to a successful outsourcing experience. Of course every organization in need of outsourced services must consider their priorities: Is it cost? Timelines? Team experience? Some combination? Inevitably the salient considerations are a combination of each of these factors, yet some will be weighed more heavily than others. We will explore current trends that can lead to reducing timelines and the expense of outsourced clinical services.

Progress in technology and business practices have led to an emerging trend of non-traditional Contract Research Organizations (CROs) that assign project teams from a pool of regional independent Clinical Research Associates (CRAs or Monitors) and Project Managers often referred to as a ”virtual bench.” This paper examines how this emerging business practice compares to traditional CROs that assign team members from their existing bench of full-time employees. The goal of this exploration is not only to define the different characteristics of each type of CRO, but also to address the different considerations that are weighed when organizations are faced with the decision to outsource their clinical trial(s).