Recruiting specialist oncologists to understand how CAR T-cell therapy is used in Multiple Myeloma treatment.

This case study highlights how IDR supported a healthcare research project by recruiting hard-to-reach specialist hematologist/oncologists across four US cities. The study explored how oncologists make treatment decisions for patients with relapsed or refractory Multiple Myeloma, including how they select patients for CAR T-cell therapy, when they consider different treatment options and how they sequence therapies throughout the patient's treatment journey.

Overview

A life sciences consultancy partnered with IDR to understand how oncologists approach treatment decisions for patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. The research focused on two groups of specialists: CAR T Treaters, who prescribe CAR T-cell therapy directly and Referrers, who refer patients to specialist CAR T treatment centers.

The client wanted to understand how these physicians approach patient selection, when they consider different treatment options and how they sequence therapies throughout the patient's treatment journey. The study also explored the competitive landscape between CAR T-cell therapies and bispecific antibodies.

The project required access to a highly specialized group of hematologist/oncologists with significant experience treating multiple myeloma. CAR T Treaters also needed to be affiliated with specific treatment centers where the relevant CAR T-cell therapies were available.

What we did

IDR sourced and recruited specialist hematologist/oncologists across Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles and Philadelphia. Participants needed to have significant direct patient care experience and actively manage multiple myeloma patients across different stages of treatment.

The study included 60-minute in-depth interviews, with the physicians completing interviews within one month.

Recruiting hard-to-reach oncology specialists

The narrow participant requirements made recruitment particularly challenging. IDR needed to identify physicians with the right combination of clinical experience, multiple myeloma caseload and familiarity with different treatment options.

Beyond recruitment, IDR managed the scheduling and logistics for in-person interviews across four cities. This included coordinating individual meeting locations, confirming arrangements with each physician and ensuring participants arrived on time for their scheduled interviews.

IDR delivered:

• 16 Specialist hematologist/oncologists across four US cities that completed 60-minute in-depth interviews.
• Fieldwork completed in one month.

Outcome

The client had not previously worked with IDR and had no established expectations of the team. They were impressed with IDR's service, particularly when compared with other vendors working on the same study. IDR exceeded expectations across speed of delivery and the quality of experts recruited.

Following the success of the project, the client commissioned IDR for phase two and highlighted their confidence in IDR's ability to deliver the next stage of the research.