Benchmarks and tools

Recruitment ROI calculator for research sites

By TrialNotice · Updated
Research site director in his office looking at a laptop showing a rising line chart
Short answerRecruitment ROI equals revenue from the randomized patients a channel produces, minus the channel's full cost including staff time, divided by that cost. Enter your numbers below. The calculator also discounts revenue for dropout, using the 19.1% Tufts CSDD average as a starting point.
Chart comparing a $15,000 recruitment channel cost with revenue from one to six randomized patients

Recruitment ROI calculator

All defaults are illustrative. Replace them with your study's numbers.

How should you use this?

  • Count randomized patients, not leads. A meta analysis found online recruitment cheaper per enrollee, yet offline methods converted better in 69% of comparisons (JMIR).
  • Include staff time. In one 25 practice trial, recruitment took 3.7 staff hours per randomized patient (PMC).
  • Discount for dropout. The Tufts CSDD average is 19.1% (Tufts CSDD). Dropouts usually earn partial revenue, so this setting is conservative.
  • Compare channels side by side by running the calculator once per source.

What usually changes the answer?

Conversion. Channels that send patients who already meet the criteria randomize more of what they send, which lowers cost per randomized patient even when the channel looks expensive. See how to calculate recruitment ROI for the full method.

Get your study in front of the right local physicians

TrialNotice builds a physician referral pipeline around one active study. We identify relevant local physicians within driving distance of your site, send study aligned direct mail, follow up by email and LinkedIn, track engagement with recipient level QR codes, and route warm responses into your site team's workflow.

Talk to TrialNotice

Sources

  1. "Site specific factors associated with clinical trial recruitment efficiency in general practice settings," PMC
  2. Applied Clinical Trials, "Can Recruitment and Retention Get Any Worse?" (Tufts CSDD screen failure study)
  3. Brøgger Mikkelsen M. et al., "Online Patient Recruitment in Clinical Trials: Systematic Review and Meta Analysis," Journal of Medical Internet Research

Keep reading

Research site manager looking at a monitor showing an enrollment bar chart falling below a red target line
Benchmarks and tools

Clinical trial enrollment statistics: the complete reference

The verified numbers on site enrollment: how many sites miss targets, how enrollment concentrates, screen failure, dropout, activation, and protocol complexity. Every figure links to its original source.

 Hands sorting patient folders into green tabbed and amber tabbed stacks on an oak desk
Benchmarks and tools

Screen failure rates by therapeutic area: reference data

Published screen failure benchmarks: 36.3% across therapeutic areas, 57% in CNS, and 70 to 80% in MASH. Plus how to calculate your own rate and use it in budgets and forecasts.

 Clinical research coordinator welcoming the first study patient at a research clinic entrance
Benchmarks and tools

Site activation and study startup benchmarks

Tufts CSDD benchmarks for study startup: 31.4 weeks from site identification to startup completion, 9.9 weeks faster at repeat sites, and only 62% of North American sites activating.