How a Feasibility Survey Built Into the CTMS Changes Site Shortlisting

In a Tufts CSDD analysis of nearly 16,000 sites, 11% of sites in a typical trial enrolled no patients and 37% under-enrolled (Tufts CSDD via Fierce Biotech). A separate Tufts CSDD survey found that getting from site identification to site initiation took about 31 weeks on average (Clinical Leader).

Feasibility sits at the start of both problems. When surveys go out by email, come back as attachments and get compared in a spreadsheet, the team spends its time collecting answers rather than judging them, and past site performance is rarely in front of whoever makes the shortlist. Running the whole survey inside the CTMS changes that sequence.

Feasibility outside versus inside the CTMS

1. Start from the sites you already know

The best predictor of how a site will perform is how it performed on your last similar study. When previous site records, including past enrolment and start-up history, sit in the CTMS, the team chooses which sites to survey with that history in view, instead of rebuilding a list from old spreadsheets.

2. Customise the survey for each study

Every study needs its own questions about the patient population, competing studies, procedures and equipment. Starting from a survey template and adjusting it for the protocol keeps the standard questions consistent across studies while adding what is specific to this one.

3. Send it from the system

Sending the survey from the CTMS links each response to the site and the study from the start. There are no attachments to save or rename, and every response lands in the same structure.

4. Let sites correct their answers, within a set window

Sites sometimes realise after submitting that a patient count was wrong or a staff member has changed. Allowing a site to edit its submitted response within a defined time frame gets the correction into the same record, rather than into a follow-up email that someone has to reconcile. Once the window closes, the answers are fixed for review.

5. See what has come back, and what hasn't

CRAs and operations leads can see how many responses have been received and how many are still pending, site by site, without maintaining a separate tracker. Chasing becomes targeted at the sites that have not replied.

6. Filter on the questions that matter

With every response in structured form, the team can filter sites by their answers to specific questions, for example sites that can perform a particular procedure on site, or that report a minimum number of matching patients. The comparison that used to take a spreadsheet and an afternoon becomes a filter.

7. Shortlist with one toggle

Once the team has reviewed a site's response, it can be shortlisted with a single toggle on the record. The shortlist is visible to everyone working on start-up, and shortlisted sites move on to pre-study visits and activation in the same system.

Feasibility checklist

• Review previous site records before choosing who to survey
• Customise the survey template with protocol-specific questions
• Set the edit window for sites before sending
• Track received and pending responses, and chase only the pending sites
• Agree the filter criteria for shortlisting before responses arrive
• Record the reason for each shortlisting decision
• Compare feasibility answers with actual enrolment at study close

What this means by role

• Clinical operations leaders and directors: shortlists are based on structured answers and site history, and are easy to review and defend.
• Clinical operations managers and CTMs: response tracking and filtering replace the spreadsheet and the tracker.
• CRAs: pending responses are visible, and shortlisted sites arrive at the pre-study visit with their answers attached.
• CRCs and site staff: one place to answer the survey, and a simple way to correct an answer without emailing.

How Cloudbyz approaches this

In Cloudbyz CTMS, built natively on Salesforce, the feasibility survey runs inside the system. The study team starts from previous site records, customises the survey for the study, and sends it to sites from the CTMS. Sites can edit their submitted responses within a configured time frame. CRAs and operations leads can analyse responses, track how many have been received and how many are pending, filter sites by their answers to specific questions, and shortlist a site with a single toggle. Shortlisted sites then continue through pre-study visit, contracts and site initiation in the same system.

Frequently asked questions

Can a feasibility survey be sent directly from a CTMS? Yes, in a CTMS that includes feasibility, the survey can be customised and sent to sites from the system, with responses stored against each site and study.

Can sites change their feasibility answers after submitting? That depends on the system. In Cloudbyz CTMS, sites can edit their response within a time frame the study team sets.

How do you shortlist sites from feasibility responses? Filter responses on the questions that matter most for the study, review the matching sites and record the shortlist decision on each site.

See feasibility to shortlist in one system

The Cloudbyz team can walk through a feasibility survey in CTMS, from sending to filtering and shortlisting.

Book a demo or visit cloudbyz.com