NEW YORK--()--Topography Health, the clinical research platform that provides infrastructure and support for practices and systems to conduct trials at scale, today announced findings from a late 2024 survey around the clinical research experience of healthcare practices and systems.

The survey targeted U.S.-based healthcare CFOs, COOs, and administrators who are actively managing clinical research programs. It aimed to explore their experiences with research programs and other administrative priorities. The results underscore that research is a compelling way to boost physician engagement and drive revenue, but the high costs and challenges that come with research mean that most respondents would consider bringing a service partner to help them build a successful program.

Top takeaways include:

  • Practices and systems need more support to overcome the obstacles at hand. Nearly 60% of non-academic practice and system administrators surveyed would consider bringing on a service partner to enhance their program. Staffing costs, start-up costs, and ongoing financial obstacles are major barriers mentioned when it comes to building research programs, even when physicians are highly engaged.
  • Engaging physicians is critical to success. Respondents overwhelmingly agreed that physician engagement is a core element for building and sustaining research programs. Among our respondents, 75% highlighted that research positively impacts both patient satisfaction and physician retention.
  • AI adoption in research remains limited. While there is growing public discourse about the role of AI in clinical trials, only 4% of surveyed administrators reported actively using AI tools within their research programs, let alone AI-driven research services. The potential benefits of AI remain largely untapped at the practice level.
  • Research can be profitable, with many practices and systems reporting some financial success, though not consistently. 75% of respondents stated that their research programs have been profitable at some point in the last 5 years. Even if profitable, they’re unable to drive revenue repeatedly and reliably.

“It’s encouraging to see that many research ancillaries can in fact be profitable,” shared Topography Health Co-Founder and CEO, Alexander Saint-Amand. “But it’s clear they need support in key areas to build successful and scalable programs — the kind that can make a big impact on patient outcomes — long term. So much of this hinges on the physicians, and fostering a joyful, meaningful research experience that they want to be a part of.”

“As a physician who runs a research program, these results don’t surprise me,” said Dr. Rajesh Jain, M.D. and Gastroenterologist, Rocky Mountain Gastroenterology. “Research can have a huge impact on our ability to provide state-of-the-art care to our patients and concurrently have a positive effect on a physician enjoying the practice of medicine, while staying on the cutting edge. To achieve this, physicians need a solid support structure so that we can concentrate on being physicians rather than administrators.”

Moving into the future, the combination of physician enthusiasm and patient awareness make it more likely that research will take place at the point of care — within a community practice or system — rather than at an academic institution. As the data shows, service partners are needed to achieve this. Many leaders in the research space are aligned with this vision. The Journal of the American Medical Association recently published a piece, Advancing a National Infrastructure for Clinical Trials, calling for a new trials infrastructure that can help address the challenges that practices and systems face. It points to the challenging state of trial financing and organization as major obstacles to expanding trials.

Topography Health currently works with practices and systems across 8 states and Washington, D.C. Their partners include 5 of the top 5 CROs and 25 of the top 50 biopharma companies. To date, Topography has a 100% retention rate among its physician investigators.

The survey was conducted in partnership with Atheneum Research. A summary of the research is available here.

About Topography Health

Topography Health is revolutionizing clinical research by providing the essential infrastructure that medical practices and systems need to conduct trials at scale. With a focus on providing a joyful physician experience, Topography addresses key challenges in technology, operations, and leadership to enable more doctors to participate in research and provide their patients with access to critical treatments. Led by Alexander Saint-Amand, former CEO of learning platform GLG, Topography is committed to making clinical trials more joyful for physicians and more accessible for patients, while providing pharma with much needed evidence. Visit www.jointopo.com to learn more.