Introduction
Engaging in clinical research studies is an essential part of our corporate philosophy at Senders Pediatrics. We provide an educational environment which maximizes parenting potential and supports parents in producing healthy, self-confident children. To that end, we have developed an outstanding clinical program that goes the extra mile for families, a unique wellness curriculum that helps explain the why's as well as the what's and a customer service focus that is truly unique. Involving our patients in clinical research is the logical extension of this philosophy.
What makes our research program unique?
- Investigator Involvement: The involvement of the investigators and sub investigators in all aspects of the recruitment process. On a weekly basis, we identify potential participants from our electronic database and contact them prior to their anticipated visits with information about potential studies. This allows our patients ample time to consider participation, thus enabling the patients/participants to have maximal comfort and knowledge about the study prior to enrollment. As a result, our recruitment percentage has been as high as 50% in some studies
- Outstanding Patient Retention: Our novel system for tracking patient visits has minimized study window violations and maximized retention. We have less than 3.0% dropout for our clinical studies over a ten-year period.
- Experienced Coordinators: We have outstanding coordinators. Our coordinators have been involved with children and clinical studies for over 30 years. They understand how to communicate with parents and with children. Equally importantly, they know how to interact with sponsors, monitors and IRB personnel.
- Immunogenicity Specialization: We specialize in immunogenicity studies. Because of our personal relationship with our patients and because we take the time to adequately explain and educate our patients, we have had tremendous success enrolling patients into our studies.
- Diverse Patient Population: We have a diverse patient population. Most companies are looking for practices that span geographic, socioeconomic and racial groupings. We are located in one of the inner ring suburbs of Cleveland and so draw both urban and suburban families. Because of our close involvement with Case Western Reserve University, we care for many graduate and medical students and their families with national and international backgrounds.
- Willing Adolescent Participants: We have a large adolescent population that has demonstrated a real willingness to participate in clinical studies. This group has traditionally been difficult to engage in clinical studies and has had a large dropout rate. We have great success with this age group because of the longevity of our involvement with their families.
- Adult and Pediatric Studies: We have recently entered into a relationship with Notre Dame College, a local institution with over 1000 students, to provide their student health services. As a result, we now have access to a large group of eager research participants between ages 18-23 years which opens us up to a large group of healthy adult age studies.
- Realistic Recruitment Goals: We are honest about our recruitment projections. We would rather give a lower estimate and exceed our goals than overestimate and disappoint.