What do sponsors measure?
| Metric | What it shows | Benchmark |
|---|---|---|
| Startup time | How fast you activate | 31.4 weeks average (Tufts CSDD) |
| Enrollment against target | Whether you deliver | 37% of sites under enroll (Tufts CSDD) |
| Screen failure rate | Patient quality | 36.3% average (Tufts CSDD) |
| Dropout rate | Retention | 19.1% average (Tufts CSDD) |
| Data quality and query time | Clean, timely data | Sponsor specific |
| Protocol deviations | Compliance | Sponsor specific |
Where do the scores go?
Into sponsor systems, and often beyond. The Investigator Databank and IQVIA's Data Query System let nearly 20 sponsor companies share historical metrics such as enrollment rates and startup times (IQVIA). A weak study can follow you.
Which metric matters most?
Enrollment. Sponsors see that a minority of sites carry most trials: in 173 cancer trials, the top 16% of sites delivered 54% of patients (Phesi). Being in that group is what earns repeat studies.
How do you improve each number?
- Startup: fast document turnaround and an internal budget ready in advance.
- Data quality: enter data within the sponsor's window and clear queries weekly.
- Screen failure: prescreen against the deciding criteria before scheduling.
- Enrollment: start patient sourcing during startup, not after activation.
Why fix patient supply first?
Because it moves three scores at once: enrollment rises, screen failure falls when patients arrive prequalified from physicians who know their history, and retention improves when the referring doctor stays involved. See how to lower screen failure rates.
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 TrialNoticeSources
- IQVIA, "Today's Investigator Databank and DQS: Welcoming the Next Generation of Consortium Members" (2025)
- Applied Clinical Trials, "Can Recruitment and Retention Get Any Worse?" (Tufts CSDD screen failure study)
- Tufts CSDD, first comprehensive clinical site initiation benchmark (2018), via GlobeNewswire
- Tufts CSDD, patient recruitment and retention practices study (Jan 2013), via Fierce Biotech
- Applied Clinical Trials, "Phesi Report: Assessing Single Patient Investigator Sites in Cancer Clinical Trials"
