Our mission is to foster healthy sponsor and CRO relationships with healthy sites by eradicating the most serious long-standing problems between them.
The Site Council consists of clinical research sites, site networks, academic medical centers, and health systems dedicated to the professional conduct of clinical research studies and the advancement of the clinical research enterprise. We have created the Site Council Dream to clarify site priorities for sponsors and CROs. Sites earn participation in the Dream by conducting clinical studies in a safe, ethical, efficient, high-quality and timely manner. We believe that the clinical research enterprise can succeed only when study sponsors and CROs have healthy relationships with healthy sites -- that is our Dream. It may not be sustainable otherwise.
The Site Council Dream consists of six parts, supported by 24 practical examples:
- The Dream of Essential Information
- The Dream of Professional Autonomy
- The Dream of Fair and Timely Compensation
- The Dream of Proficient Governance
- The Dream of Patient Centricity
- The Dream of a Collaborative Relationship
Sites have had the same problems with sponsors and CROs for over 40 years. We have discussed these problems and possible solutions in numerous forums, but we have systemically solved only one of them: redundant GCP training for principal investigators. The Site Council is creating a virtuous cycle to eradicate these problems. Every sponsor wants to be the sites' sponsor of choice and every CRO wants to be the sites' CRO of choice. The Site Council Dream provides the roadmap. The Site Council Dream provides the roadmap.
The Site Council is growing fast, with over 1,400 members, including 33 site networks and 24 AMCs and health systems. To view the Executive Committee, click here. To read a press release, click here.
We invite clinical research sites and site networks to join the Site Council. There are no membership dues. The only member time commitment -- which is modest -- is talking about the Site Council Dream with study sponsors and CROs when they bring you a new study. When study sponsors and CROs consistently hear from their sites about the Site Council Bill of Rights, they will have to take it seriously. To join the Site Council, click here.
We are getting traction with study sponsors and CROs, who can join as Supporters. We are also working with other organizations that have trusted relationships with numerous sites, who can join as Partners. There are no membership dues.
The clinical research enterprise has been wrestling with the same problems for over 40 years. Let's try a new, more strategic and collaborative approach to solving them. The patients can't wait.
Operating a Clinical Research Site in the Age of High Interest Rates
The cost of carrying accounts receivable has increased substantially in today’s environment of high interest rates. How is it impacting your site? What can you do about it? Why are payments so slow, anyway? To learn more, click here. The Site Council is addressing this issue. To learn how, contact us at ngoldfarb@sitecouncil.org.
The Broader Context
The deceptively named Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 includes one section that, while misguided and perhaps even counterproductive, may reduce inflation: the prescription drug provisions. These provisions direct Medicare to "negotiate" drug prices with pharmaceutical companies. The Supreme Court will probably have something to say about the coercive overreach of these provisions, but the larger issue is that there is bipartisan support for government intervention in drug pricing. The harsh reality is that the high cost of many essential drugs is simply not sustainable. We can talk about the high value of high-priced drugs, but Medicare’s pockets – and the pockets of our health system, in general – are just not deep enough to cover their costs when widely prescribed.
We need to look at this problem another way, and that’s where clinical research comes in. The consensus opinion of senior clinical operations executives is that over half – yes, half -- of the cost and time in a typical clinical trial is wasted. Some say 80%. Do the math on your own studies: Compare the cost of the test article, procedures, tests, and assessments that generate data to the total cost of the study – it will probably be a tiny fraction, perhaps only one percent of total study costs. Do sites really need study coordinators spending one day a week on redundant data entry? Armies of CTA negotiators renegotiating the same terms over and over again? Legions of accounts-receivable clerks chasing late and poorly documented payments from study sponsors and CROs?
The Site Council is addressing fundamental problems that needlessly inflate costs, timelines and risks in the clinical research enterprise. Let’s stop bailing and start fixing the boat.