What could your site accomplish if coordinators spent less time on routine tasks and more time with patients?
For many coordinators, finding that time isn’t easy.
A participant needs a follow-up call. Another has a question about their study device. There’s data to enter, missed assessments to address, and a full schedule of visits to manage.
Each task matters, but when everything falls on the site, even the smallest responsibilities can add up.
And not every task needs to land on the site.
That's where dedicated patient support can make a difference. By taking on routine calls, follow-ups, and administrative work, support teams can give coordinators valuable time back to focus on patient care and the clinical responsibilities that require their expertise.
Here are five ways it can help.
1. Taking Recruitment and Screening Calls Off the Site’s Plate
Finding potential participants is only part of the recruitment process. Someone still needs to make the calls, answer questions, conduct initial screenings, and follow up with interested individuals.
For sites managing multiple studies, those conversations can take up a significant amount of time.
Dedicated recruitment and prescreening teams can help with participant outreach, initial screening calls, and follow-up. This allows sites to spend less time managing routine communications and more time on activities that require their clinical expertise.
Timely follow-up also matters for recruitment. A 2025 study published in Trials found that contacting potential participants at their preferred callback times was associated with 39% higher odds of completing a prescreening interview.
2. Preventing Participants from Falling Through the Cracks
A participant's experience doesn't stop when they leave the clinic.
They may have questions about upcoming visits, need help with scheduling, or feel uncertain about what's expected of them. Without a consistent point of contact, those questions often find their way back to the site.
When participants don't receive the support they need between visits, unanswered questions and unresolved challenges can put their continued participation at risk.
Through regular check-ins, reminders, and follow-up, proactive patient support can help identify these concerns early and reduce the risk of participants becoming lost to follow-up.
For example, a participant who needs to reschedule an appointment may also have concerns about balancing study requirements with work or family responsibilities. A conversation can help clarify the issue and coordinate next steps with the site.
When participants know where to turn for help, sites spend less time managing routine questions. Participants also have a more consistent source of assistance throughout the study.
3. Addressing Technology and Device Challenges
Technology is an important part of modern clinical trials, but site coordinators aren't technical support specialists. When participants need help with devices or study applications, coordinators can find themselves troubleshooting technology instead of focusing on their clinical responsibilities.
A wearable stops syncing. Someone struggles to complete an electronic diary. Another participant needs help navigating a study application.
Without dedicated assistance, these issues often become another task for site staff.
Patient support teams can help with device onboarding, training, troubleshooting, and follow-up.
Consider a participant who can't connect their wearable before a scheduled assessment. Rather than waiting for a coordinator to troubleshoot the issue, a trained specialist can help identify the problem and guide the participant through the next steps.
This allows sites to spend less time resolving routine technical issues while helping participants use study technology with greater confidence.
4. Catching Compliance Issues Before They Become Study Risks
A missed assessment doesn't always mean a participant is disengaging.
They may have forgotten, misunderstood the instructions, or experienced a technical issue. The challenge is understanding what happened before missed activities become a recurring problem.
Compliance monitoring, paired with proactive follow-up, can help identify gaps and address them sooner.
For example, if a participant repeatedly misses an evening assessment, a follow-up conversation may reveal that the timing conflicts with their daily routine. The study team can then determine an appropriate next step within the protocol.
This helps sites spend less time investigating unresolved issues. It can also help sponsors reduce the risk of missing data and better understand barriers to participation.
5. Reducing the Administrative Work That Adds Up
Not every source of site burden comes from a major challenge.
It's often the smaller tasks that accumulate throughout the day. Data entry, scheduling, follow-up communications, and routine documentation all require time and attention.
Individually, these responsibilities may seem manageable. Together, they can take valuable time away from other study activities.
Dedicated support teams can assist with appropriate administrative tasks, helping sites manage their workload without compromising their responsibilities.
For example, routine data entry and follow-up coordination can be handled by trained personnel under established study procedures. This gives site staff more time for clinical assessments, protocol requirements, and direct participant care.
Better Patient Support Means Better Support for Sites
Reducing site burden doesn't mean removing sites from the participant experience. It means making sure they don't have to manage every question, call, technical issue, or administrative task on their own.
The benefits extend across the study. Participants receive more consistent assistance. Sites have more time for their clinical responsibilities. Sponsors gain greater confidence that routine issues are being addressed.
At Delve Health, our Concierge-as-a-Service™ model puts this approach into practice. Our teams proactively monitor study activity, follow up with participants when issues arise, and coordinate with sites to determine the next steps. From recruitment and screening calls to compliance monitoring and technology support, we help address routine challenges while keeping site teams informed and involved.
The goal isn't to give sites less responsibility. It's to give them more time for the responsibilities that matter most.