Blue Chip Patient Recruitment (BCPR), a division of Blue Chip Marketing Worldwide, has released a white paper to announce the results of its 2012 mobile healthcare technology Survey. Survey results identify opportunities for the use of mHealth technology in clinical trial recruitment practices and were recently presented at the 2012 Drug Information Association (DIA) Annual Meeting.

"mHealth is in its early adoption phase, but there are some exciting opportunities that clinical trial sponsors can leverage now," says Neil Weisman, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Blue Chip Patient Recruitment. "Our findings show that 92 percent of site coordinators are eager for tools to help them do their jobs more efficiently and are open to receiving mobile devices from trial sponsors, so there is great opportunity to engage with trial participants early."

BCPR fielded the mHealth Survey in three parts over the course of three months (March -May, 2012), directly targeting three core constituencies -- patients, physicians and trial site coordinators.

All participants had to own a smartphone and/or tablet. Participating physicians and site coordinators had to be involved in clinical trials.

"By identifying new opportunities for engagement with clinical trial participants, we can develop innovative ways to use mobile technology when developing our patient recruitment programs," said Stanton Kawer, Chairman and CEO of Blue Chip Marketing Worldwide. "Our survey results show that there is a core group of early mHealth adopters who are much more active in using mobile for healthcare. By focusing on this group, we are able to identify trends that will help us engage larger patient pools as more patients start to use their mobile devices for healthcare management."

Additional key learnings from the BCPR mHealth Survey include:

• More than 75 percent of surveyed patients prefer to use their smartphones and tablets for communication (i.e., phone, text, email) as opposed to less than 50 percent who use their phones for computing (i.e., accessing the internet or apps). 


• Among the most active mobile users surveyed, 67 percent are receptive to receiving clinical trial information via email, with 44 percent of those users seeking information via internet search engines. Sponsors should consider implementing mobile search engine optimization and marketing (SEO/SEM) strategies to reach this active audience. 


• The waiting room is an ideal opportunity to engage patients with clinical trial messaging. On average, more than 50 percent of patients surveyed use mobile devices in physician waiting rooms. By providing waiting room Wi-Fi access that includes information about clinical trials, physicians can encourage dialogue with patients about clinical trial opportunities. 


A full summary of the survey data can be found in the BCPR white paper, "Leveraging Mobile Health Technology for Patient Recruitment: An Emerging Opportunity," which can be accessed via the BCPR site at: http://bcpatientrecruitment.com/white-paper.

About Blue Chip Patient Recruitment

Blue Chip Patient Recruitment, a division of Blue Chip Marketing Worldwide, is a global, full-service patient recruitment and retention agency dedicated to accelerating clinical trial enrollment. Blue Chip Patient Recruitment has also become a leader in the mobile health (mHealth) space, identifying opportunities for adopting mHealth technology in clinical trials.