What to Expect In Your First 6 Months As A Clinical Research Site Owner

Drawing upon the past decade in which I have spent building and operating research sites, and the past 3 years of consulting and advising for dozens of other research sites across the country, I have came up with some proxies for what you can expect as a new research site owner within your critical first 6 months of operation.

Assuming you already have a PI, an actual location, and the various equipment that you will need, the first variable that will determine your success will be how quickly you can get your first study. The second variable immediately becomes how quickly can you enroll your first subject. While there is no rule set in stone, let’s assume you get a study within your first 1–3 months of being in business. The very next issue will be when will your site get initiated and approved to start screening subjects which will quickly be followed with when will you screen and randomize your first subject?

Site payments are dependent upon randomizations, however, more often than not, a site will receive some form of a start up payment ranging anywhere from 5,000 to 7,500 USD. This early cashflow is a much welcomed occurrence for any start up company. Assuming that you can randomize a consistent amount of patients, your site should start receiving regular study payments based on your completed study visits after 3 months of your first patient being randomized. After these initial 3 months, as long as you negotiated a monthly payment in your budgets, you should start seeing monthly payments.

Here is a video I did with a site owner who happens to be a client of mine after his first 6 months of being in business. He actually as quite a few studies. If you would like me to help you find clinical trials for your site, or perhaps need consulting with anything else, give me a call and we can set up a plan that is right for you through my consulting firm.