Webinar recap: Boosting recruitment and retention with SDOH data
As the pharmaceutical industry continues its shift towards more patient-centric models, the incorporation of social determinants of health (SDOH) data has become increasingly valuable. This holistic approach, which considers factors like economic stability, education, healthcare access, and social support, provides important insights into the real-world contexts of patient populations.
During a recent webinar sponsored by Socially Determined, key industry experts – Trenor Williams, CEO of Socially Determined, Ryan Moog, Head of Life Sciences at Datavant, and Thad Wolfram, President of EmVenio Research – explored the growing importance of SDOH data in clinical trials. Their conversation underscored the immense value that leveraging these insights can bring to not only boost recruitment and retention, but also to optimise commercialisation strategies. Here, we break down five key takeaways from the session that highlight how SDOH data can fuel more successful drug development and commercialisation.
1. Understanding the barriers to clinical trial participation
Recruitment and retention in clinical trials are often hindered by factors beyond traditional clinical barriers. While much of the focus has historically been on medical eligibility, the reality is that many patients face logistical, social, and psychological challenges that prevent them from enrolling or remaining in a trial. Common barriers include transportation difficulties, limited health literacy, and a deep mistrust of the healthcare system, particularly among underserved communities.
Wolfram highlighted the importance of addressing these issues head-on by building trust within these communities and reducing practical burdens, like travel time. “Transportation is often the first major barrier we address,” he explained. “By co-locating research sites in areas that are more accessible, such as community centres or churches, we make it easier for patients to participate. This not only boosts recruitment, but also enhances retention, which is crucial for trial success.”
Addressing these barriers requires more than just identifying them; organisations must make a concerted effort to develop targeted strategies that make participation easier and more appealing to underserved populations. Bringing clinical trials closer to the patients who need them, both geographically and culturally, is a critical step in overcoming these obstacles. Trials that better reflect the real-world population will also produce more robust data, which is vital for regulatory approval and eventual market success.
“What we know today is that far too many clinical trials do not look like the broad representation and diversity that lives in this country,” explained Williams. “The participant pool that you are working with doesn’t mirror what looks like the people that you actually want to be able to take your drugs down the line.”
“Capturing that representative data is going to best ensure that the label for a new drug is positioned well to drive market access down the road,” added Wolfram.
Addressing these barriers isn’t just about ethics – it’s a strategic imperative for faster market approval. Trials that fail to recruit and retain a representative sample face delays in regulatory approval, limiting a drug’s ability to effectively reach the market.
2. Enhancing recruitment and retention through SDOH integration
Clinical trial success is not just about bringing a drug to market – it’s also about ensuring that the drug has the best possible chance for broad market adoption. One of the most promising tools for overcoming these recruitment challenges is the use of SDOH data, which enables organisations to understand patients beyond their clinical profiles, offering insights into the broader factors that influence their health and healthcare access – factors that will extend beyond the clinical trial bubble.
Williams used a powerful analogy to explain the current limitations in how clinical trials are designed. “It’s like trying to look at a room through a keyhole,” he said. “You only see a small part of what’s going on. SDOH data helps open that door, giving you a full view of the challenges and barriers patients face in their daily lives.”
This is crucial for commercial teams, as trials that fail to address these factors risk under-representing key demographics, leading to complications when it comes to post-launch payer negotiations. Williams pointed out that “the participants of many clinical trials don’t look like the broader population that will be prescribed the drug.” By considering SDOH factors from the outset, companies can align their trials with the populations most in need of the drug, improving the likelihood of regulatory approval and broader market access.
“It shouldn’t be a side hustle,” Williams said. “It should be integrated into every aspect of your approach and management.”
“The work that organisations can do on the trial side informs how they think, as they’re getting to pre-launch, launch, and commercialisation, about what those barriers and challenges are going to be, not just for the folks who participated in the trial, but a much broader market of the population,” he continued. “Combining traditional healthcare data with community and individual social risk data as part of that allows them just to be, again, a more thoughtful and efficient and effective organisation throughout the entire lifecycle.”
3. Optimising trial outcomes via community-based research
One of the most effective ways to improve trial outcomes is by meeting patients where they are – both physically and culturally. Community-based research sites provide a more familiar, less intimidating environment for participants, fostering trust and encouraging long-term engagement. These sites also make it easier for patients to access trial locations, reducing the logistical hurdles that often discourage participation.
Wolfram emphasised the importance of tailoring research teams to reflect the communities they serve. “We hire locally, ensuring that our research teams share the same culture and language as the participants. This builds trust and makes patients more comfortable, which in turn increases engagement and retention.”
To illustrate how this works in practice, he highlighted EmVenio Research’s mobile research sites, which are set up in underserved areas where patients may have limited access to healthcare facilities. These mobile units, he explained, bring the trial directly to the patients, reducing the time and effort required for participation. This localised approach has been particularly successful in increasing both recruitment and retention rates, as patients are more likely to participate when the trial fits seamlessly into their everyday lives.
From a commercialisation perspective, this has long-term benefits. Drugs tested in community-based sites often produce more reliable and diverse data, which is critical for demonstrating efficacy across different population groups. This translates into stronger support for market adoption, especially from payers who increasingly demand evidence that a drug will be effective across a broad patient base.
As Wolfram noted: “We have to make sure that the safety and efficacy data that is gathered around a new therapy or vaccine is reflective of the patient population that it is going to be marketed to downstream. That’s the paramount challenge that a lot of this has to do from a clinical trial perspective.”
“The first part is capturing that representative data is going to best ensure that the label for a new drug is positioned well to drive market access down the road,” he continued. “It isn’t just bringing clinical trials to these communities, but [asking] ‘What are the right clinical trials?’”
4. Translating SDOH insights into market strategy
Beyond clinical trial design, the insights gained from SDOH data can be directly applied to commercialisation strategies. Understanding patients’ real-world challenges – such as financial strain or access to healthcare – enables pharmaceutical companies to develop more effective post-launch strategies that align with patient needs.
Drawing from his experience, Moog discussed how linking clinical trial data with SDOH data offers deeper insights into why certain patients drop out of trials and how this can inform future strategies. “All good actions start with insight, and all good insights start with the actual data,” he said. “The reality is that much of this data already exists. The challenge is bringing it together in a way that informs future trial design and commercialisation efforts.”
A real-world application of this approach was seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, when single-shot vaccines were prioritised for unhoused populations. Understanding that this group often struggles with follow-up visits for a second dose, healthcare organisations adjusted the trial design to ensure that the vaccine was accessible and effective for this specific population. This not only improved health outcomes for a vulnerable group, but also ensured the trial’s success by reducing dropout rates.
“Ensuring diversity of the populations that participate in research is where, frequently, we find out that a drug that is being investigated may have other benefits that we wouldn’t have even recognised if we hadn’t captured that set of more holistic data around those patient populations,” added Wolfram. “That’s where, even within the broader clinical trial space, there can be more expansive value in all of this data collection and in the analysis of it that leads to further knowledge and breakthroughs in the life sciences space.”
5. Precision medicine as a commercialisation catalyst
It’s no secret that precision medicine has been touted as the future of pharma, and as Williams noted during the webinar, SDOH data plays a critical role in realising that potential. While much of the focus on precision medicine has traditionally been on genetic factors, the panel highlighted the necessity of accounting for a patient’s broader life circumstances, which are shaped by SDOH.
Williams offered a compelling analogy to illustrate this: “Patients spend an average of 63 minutes with a healthcare provider each year, but there are 525,000 minutes in the year. What happens in those 525,000 minutes matters.” By combining clinical trial data with real-world social data, pharmaceutical companies can better understand the factors that influence patients’ health and treatment outcomes over time.
This holistic, data-driven approach will not only improve trial design, but also ensure that the resulting therapies are tailored to the specific needs of diverse patient populations. Drugs that are designed and tested with real-world social factors in mind have a better chance of achieving strong market performance because they align more closely with the realities of patients’ lives. Precision medicine, when combined with SDOH data, represents a powerful tool for not just improving patient outcomes, but also ensuring long-term commercial success.
Harnessing SDOH data for trial efficiency and market success
The integration of SDOH data into clinical trial design and commercialisation strategies offers pharmaceutical companies a powerful tool for improving both trial efficiency and market success. By addressing the non-clinical factors that impact patient recruitment, retention, and adherence, companies can optimise their trials for real-world effectiveness and set the stage for stronger market access and broader adoption.
Ultimately, the panellists emphasised that those who harness the power of SDOH data not only stand to bring their drugs to market faster, but also ensure that their products meet the needs of a diverse patient population – driving both better outcomes and greater commercial success.
“I have yet to see a single sponsor who we couldn’t help learn something more about their patient population than what they had originally designed a clinical data management plan around. There’s always something new,” concluded Moog. “I would just argue that, if you’re learning after the fact that there should have been some sort of social determinants component of how you addressed the clinical trial and then into care, you’re really too late.”
About Socially Determined
Socially Determined is leading the integration of health and social care through social risk analytics. Its SocialScape® platform, social risk data, and industry-leading solutions empower health systems, plans and other risk-bearing organizations to manage risk, improve outcomes, and advance equity - at scale. Headquartered in Washington, DC, Socially Determined has been named as one of the 15 most promising healthcare companies by Fierce Healthcare. For more information, follow Socially Determined on Twitter or LinkedIn, or visit www.SociallyDetermined.com.
