How to Successfully Conduct Virtual Investigator Meetings

In a remote clinical research landscape, a successful virtual investigator meeting can ensure a more cost-effective and compliant clinical trial. So, what makes a virtual investigator meeting more successful than others? Conducting a successful virtual investigator meeting relies on convenience, intentional engagement, and extended support. This blog will expand on those critical elements and provide examples of how to implement them in your next study.

Maximize Convenience

As a result of our new remote research landscape, principal investigators (PIs) and site staff will expect virtual options and accommodations. With busy schedules, tight budgets, and varying time zones depending on the study, it is easy to understand why site personnel are more inclined to train virtually. Maximize the convenience of your virtual investigator meeting even further by:

• providing multiple virtual training events to accommodate schedules across your global footprint
• considering a mix of mediums, with the deployment of training before an in-person Q&A web-meeting
• offer training in the appropriate language for the location
• and offer an on-demand option for those who were unable to attend or need a refresher to review on their own time.

Now that your virtual investigator meeting is as accessible and convenient as possible, utilize these strategies to make the most of your highly attended events.

Engage with Intention

Due to short attention spans, Zoom video conference fatigue, and minimized ability to gauge comprehension, implementing purposeful engagement strategies is essential to a stronger understanding and retention of training materials and can be even more effective than in-person meetings. Training tools such as multimedia, eLearning, quizzes, presentations, and more should be blended to keep audiences involved, engaged, and learning.

Multimedia: videos, animations, audio, etc.

Cater to both visual and auditory learners with videos designed to captivate and educate with clarity. Teach staff about protocol visits and procedures through short engaging videos. Use illustrated, 3D animations to ensure comprehension of the investigational product’s mechanism of action and complex treatments.

eLearning Modules: quizzes, reading materials, etc.

Utilize eLearning mechanisms to break down complex topics into understandable pieces and implement quizzes to test comprehension of base concepts before building further on them. eLearning can also support education before and after the virtual meeting. Online completion of training concepts spanning multiple studies, like GCP (good clinical practice) and HSP (human subject protection), reduces the duplicate effort for both the sponsor and staff members who have already completed standard training for other protocols.

PowerPoint Presentations

Not all PowerPoints are created equal and can be misinterpreted, varying widely between presenters and meetings. Make sure yours are intentionally designed, easy to read, and illustrated to increase effectiveness and consistency across presenters. Keep them short and integrate discussion questions or polls to touch base with your audience and gauge comprehension.

Extended Support & Access

Frequently disregarded, the key to executing a successful virtual investigator meeting is extending support and access to materials before as well as after the event itself. Frequent touch points with learning materials and access to training beyond the virtual event increase retention and engagement among users. Distribute eLearning materials before the event to prime information and lay a foundation for meeting discussion.

Time between the investigator meetings and a site’s first enrollment, as well as staff turnover and onboarding, can threaten an investigator’s adherence to the protocol and study efficiency. Virtual Investigator Meeting recordings, materials, and custom training content should be available on-demand for all necessary stakeholders.

Effectively extending support and training access to sites requires a solution to house meeting recordings and materials, as well as the ability to manage and store necessary training documents. Advarra’s experienced training staff helps successfully conduct virtual investigator meetings using the best practices above, and they are complemented by the Longboat Platform as the hub responsible for storing, managing, and tracking all training items.

Rooted in the strategies above, leverage Advarra’s 20 years of experience in site training and event management to conduct a successful virtual investigator meeting. Powered by the Longboat Platform, download the overview to learn what to expect from Virtual Investigator Meetings by Advarra.

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