Slow Clinical Trial Enrollment? Look at the Recruitment Funnel
When clinical trial enrollment falls behind schedule, the total enrollment number only tells part of the story.
The more useful question is: Where are candidates being lost?
A recruitment funnel can help sponsors examine each stage of the process, including:
Outreach and inquiries
Pre-screening
Referrals
Site screening
Informed consent
Randomization
Different drop-off patterns can point to different operational challenges. Low outreach volume may indicate a top-of-funnel issue, while referral-to-screening losses can be associated with scheduling, distance, or site-access barriers. Higher screening-to-consent or randomization drop-offs may reveal protocol-related constraints.
Stage-level dashboards can provide earlier visibility than aggregate enrollment reports. Looking at conversion by site and referral source can also help identify which channels are producing candidates who progress through the funnel.
The key is to diagnose the bottleneck before deciding on a corrective action.
DecenTrialz uses structured matching and pre-screening workflows to support visibility across the recruitment funnel, while final eligibility, consent, and enrollment remain with the research site.
