BEFORE
Multi-site Specialty Research Network Before RealTime
- Decentralized operations across four sites
- Low adoption (<25%) of a custom-built CTMS
- Departure of key research leadership, risking institutional knowledge loss
AFTER
Multi-site Specialty Research Network After RealTime
- Strategic roadmap for CTMS readiness and adoption
- Standardized workflows across all sites
- Customized implementation plan for the complete Site Operations Management Systems (SOMS)
Overview
A fast-growing, multi-site specialty research network faced critical operational challenges due to decentralized systems and the departure of key leadership. With a prior CTMS implementation yielding less than 25% staff adoption and no clear roadmap forward, the organization turned to RealTime’s Professional Services team for strategy.
Over a three-week engagement, RealTime consultants provided a comprehensive, cross-functional assessment of current workflows, technology gaps, and scalability risks. The result was a tailored roadmap to CTMS readiness grounded in operational best practices, change management, and strategic alignment across all sites.
The Challenge
Each research location operated independently, leading to inconsistent workflows, duplicated efforts, and limited organizational visibility. Staff relied heavily on spreadsheets, email, and disconnected tools to manage operations, and a previously attempted CTMS had failed to gain traction. Leadership recognized that without a strategic plan, any new system would likely face the same fate.
The Solution
With decades of combined experience supporting hundreds of research organizations across therapeutic areas and structures, RealTime consultants bring deep knowledge of site workflows, change management, regulatory compliance, and system integration. This engagement was no exception.
RealTime’s Professional Services team of experts led a structured, high-impact consulting initiative that included:
- Discovery sessions with cross-functional stakeholders, including executive leadership, coordinators, finance, QA, and physicians. This ensured that every operational lens was represented.
- Operational audits using RealTime’s proprietary “Tribal Knowledge Questionnaire,” a diagnostic framework designed to surface hidden inefficiencies, institutional workarounds, and gaps in visibility that can compromise system success.
- Live walkthroughs of current systems and data environments, revealing where processes broke down, overlapped, or relied on manual intervention.
- Collaborative planning sessions grounded in business goals. This approach allowed the team to align recommendations with the company’s growth strategy, staffing realities, and internal readiness.
Throughout the engagement, RealTime’s consultants served as expert navigators, translating complex site operations into actionable next steps. The team ensured that the organization walked away with a tangible roadmap tailored to its culture, priorities, and scalability needs.
“Our goal with Professional Services is to meet clients where they are and help them unlock the full potential of their system. With this team, we were able to dive into their workflow, identify areas for improvement, and configure the technology in a way that truly supports their day-to-day operations. Our implementations are a genuine partnership.”
Alicia Gearhart, Director of Professional Services, RealTime eClinical Solutions
Key Findings & Strategic Guidance
Fragmented Operations Obscured Growth Potential: Independent operations at each site led to inefficiencies and hindered scalability. RealTime recommended a multi-site model with shared standards to streamline processes while maintaining necessary flexibility.
Technology Gaps Created Hidden Inefficiencies: Reliance on disconnected tools like Excel and email for managing visits, finances, and documentation resulted in manual workarounds and limited integration. RealTime’s consultants identified specific CTMS capabilities to replace siloed tools and improve automation and visibility.
Implementation Success Hinges on Change Management: Given prior negative experiences with CTMS implementation, staff were cautious. The Professional Services team introduced a phased onboarding model including role-based training, migration support, data mapping, SOPs, and hyper-care sessions to ensure smooth adoption.
Best Practices to Accelerate Readiness
As part of the strategic roadmap, the Professional Services consultants introduced best practices and scalable solutions designed to reduce administrative burden, improve data consistency, and future-proof operations as they scale. These recommendations went beyond system implementation to address long-term efficiency, usability, and adaptability.
Study Template Building Services
To minimize redundant data entry and strengthen protocol adherence, RealTime’s consultants recommended leveraging its Template Services team to pre-build standardized study visit structures, task flows, and source forms. This reduced variability across sites, accelerated study startup, and ensured staff could focus on execution.
Integrated eSource + eDocs Workflows
The team proposed a unified digital workflow combining eSource for direct data capture and eDocs (eReg/eISF) for centralized document management. This integration eliminates manual transfers, reduces compliance risk, and ensures audit readiness while streamlining communication between clinical and regulatory teams.
Web-to-CTMS Recruitment Automation
Recognizing the site’s interest in increasing patient enrollment efficiency, RealTime introduced web-to-CTMS integration to automatically push qualified leads from online intake forms directly into RealTime-CTMS. This not only speeds up recruitment but also eliminates the need for duplicative data entry and improves tracking of recruitment performance by site and indication.
Tablet-Based Workflows for Mobile Physicians
To support physicians working across multiple locations, RealTime recommended the use of its mobile app, optimized for tablets, to enable on-the-go access to key tasks, patient visits, and documentation. This flexibility empowers providers to stay connected to site operations, approve documents, and complete visits from anywhere, without disrupting workflow or compliance.
“We didn’t come to RealTime looking for a product – we came looking for a plan. What we got was a strategic roadmap that answered every question we had about how to do this the right way. That made all the difference.”
VP of Research, Multi-Site Specialty Network
The Results
Through an unbiased, strategic consulting engagement, RealTime’s Professional Services team delivered a clear, customized roadmap to CTMS readiness, aligning leadership around a shared vision and providing tactical guidance to minimize disruption, streamline workflows, and support long-term scalability.
Impressed by the depth of analysis, the practical change management plan, and the unbiased, real-world recommendations, this multi-site network made the decision to move forward with RealTime because of the partnership that had been built.
They selected RealTime’s complete Site Operations Management System (SOMS) to centralize and unify their research infrastructure across all sites. The implementation included:
- CTMS for centralized study and site management
- eSource for direct, digital data capture at the point of care
- eReg (eDocs) for audit-ready regulatory document management
- SitePay to automate and streamline patient payments
- Engage! for participant eConsent and secure communication
- Text Messaging to reduce no-shows and improve retention
- Template and Source Building Services to accelerate study setup
- Web-to-CTMS Recruitment Forms for seamless lead capture and intake
- Why This Worked
Strategic Consulting Before System Selection: Rather than jumping into another platform, the client prioritized readiness, engaging RealTime’s Professional Services team to assess operational gaps, align leadership, and build a clear roadmap to long-term success.
Tailored, Real-World Expertise: The Professional Services team brings hands-on experience from hundreds of site engagements, offering guidance rooted in practical site operations.
Cross-Functional Discovery = Deeper Insight: By engaging stakeholders across finance, compliance, clinical, and executive teams, RealTime uncovered fragmented workflows and operational blind spots that previous vendors had missed.
Change Management Built-In: With a proven, phased onboarding strategy that included SOPs, training plans, and migration support, RealTime ensured staff adoption, reduced disruption, and mitigated risk during transition.
Scalable, Future-Ready Solutions: From study template services to integrated eSource and web-to-CTMS recruitment tools, RealTime introduced best practices that not only addressed current pain points but positioned the organization for efficient, scalable growth.
More than a Tech Vendor, a Partner: The decision to adopt RealTime’s full SOMS suite was the result of trust, alignment, and a consulting experience that prioritized the client’s operational success.
Experience the RealTime difference. Unlock even greater value from your eClinical solutions with our Professional Services. We’d love to show you how.