Working with Service Providers

Overwhelmingly, expertise was cited as the biggest challenge of working with service providers, with staff turnover second. These perennial clinical trial outsourcing concerns reflect the reality that despite the evolution of technologies, ensuring the right people are assigned to any given job, and are equipped with the right skills, remains essential. It is especially critical to get right in skills-scarce areas such as clinical data management, biostatistics, and statistical programming, with fierce competition for the right talent.

What is your biggest challenge when working with service providers?

Service providers and sponsors alike need to evolve training that is fit-for-purpose in the current environment. For data management and analytical professionals, training goes beyond the technical know-how required to do the job and extends into leveraging technology and therapeutic expertise. For example, at eClinical we have initiated a data management ‘boot camp’ for skills development, focusing on the areas of greatest evolution. Developing skills that allow team members to direct their own career paths also mitigates the risks of high staff turnover—which has a known impact on knowledge retention and study oversight for sponsors. A portfolio model, which assigns team members to specific clients, also supports retention by freeing up staff for relationship-building and greater strategic focus.