Dallas, Texas - The Patient Recruitment Organization (PRO) Steering Committee members have appointed patient recruitment authority Diana L. Anderson, Ph.D., chairman of the committee. The PRO Steering Committee is a new advocacy group formed to represent the international patient recruitment and retention industry. Dr. Anderson will serve a one-year term and will be responsible for overseeing the committee, setting meeting agendas, leading discussions and raising issues of concern.
"The PRO Steering Committee is an ad hoc group of professionals who lead patient recruitment organizations," said Dr. Anderson, president and CEO of D. Anderson & Company (DAC), a global PRO headquartered in Dallas. "The goal of the committee is to work together to address issues and trends that impact the provision of their patient recruitment and retention services globally."
The committee evolved from the inaugural PRO Summit, which was held April 16 at the Westin Philadelphia. The event drew executives from top patient recruitment organizations, including DAC, Fleishman-Hillard Clinical Trials Division, Healthcare Communications Group, (Pi) Patient interaction, RxTrials, and The Patient Recruiting Agency™ (TPRA). DAC and TPRA co-hosted the event.
"Our discussions centered on several market trends which underscore the need for greater collaboration and cooperation among PROs," said Dr. Anderson, a 2009 International Women of Influence Awards™ recipient whose company boasts 18 years of experience in 62 countries and 40 therapeutic areas.
The committee identified five areas of interest for advancing the patient recruitment and retention industry, namely, whether to form a professional trade organization; risk sharing; identifying industry trends; expanding globally; and improving how patient recruitment organizations work with stakeholders, including pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, contract research organizations and clinical trial sites.
The PRO Steering Committee’s next steps include broadening participation in the committee to other patient recruitment organizations and developing a position paper summarizing their strategies. The group will hold monthly teleconferences and re-convene in person within 12 months.
With offices in Seattle, Houston and Dallas, DAC is a subsidiary of D.L. Anderson International. The company is certified as a Women-Owned Business (WBE) by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council and a continuing education provider through the California Board of Registered Nursing. For more information, visit www.dandersoncompany.com.
