Ultimate Guide To Sample Management For Clinical Research Sites

The first responsibility in conducting clinical research is treating patients while operating a functional clinic. To effectively maintain that responsibility, it is crucial that the clinical site where a study is taking place has the right supplies for its participants and that critical safety, efficacy, and exploratory lab samples get where they need to be. If there is ever a lost or invalid sample during the study, there can be major impacts or repercussions that will negatively affect the overall integrity of the study if handled improperly.

This can be difficult to avoid, or get over, as the process of collecting, processing, storing, and shipping samples is chaotic at best. There is very little training or time to truly decipher the lab manual when a patient is waiting, and the clock is ticking. On top of that, teams depend on having the most current version of the ever-changing laboratory manual. This results in poor user experiences for the site coordinators and lab staff.

While teams could follow their SOPs as best as possible, it doesn’t take away from the fact that the process isn’t perfect and there is little to no visibility into the samples’ state or location once they leave your site; knowing that those samples are critically important to prove the safety and efficacy of the treatment; and trusting that the dots can be connected between the lab results and the patient by piecing together information from disparate sources.

To better manage the sometimes-unmanageable samples at clinical research sites, utilize this guide to ensure the availability of critical lab samples, minimize errors, and enhance data integrity.