Site selection has traditionally been treated as a simple milestone: identifying appropriate sites, confirming interest and moving forward. But for sponsors seeking faster timelines, predictable outcomes and repeatable performance across studies, merely meeting a milestone is no longer enough.
Economic pressure, increasing trial complexity, competition for patients and advances in data and analytics are raising expectations. Sponsors need site selection to become a strategic advantage, not simply an administrative step.
Traditional approaches often involve lengthy manual feasibility cycles before study teams can turn their attention to start-up activities. As speed cannot come at the expense of quality, the challenge is to identify suitable sites sooner while maintaining confidence that they have the experience, capabilities and operational readiness required for the protocol.
IQVIA's Optimized Site Selection process addresses this challenge by combining three core dimensions:
Selection considers several drivers of site success, including historical performance, patient access, protocol fit, operational readiness, facilities, equipment, recruitment potential and site interest. Importantly, IQVIA combines these data-driven insights with long-standing relationships and experience working with high-performing sites. This provides confidence in a site's ability to recruit, deliver quality data and execute effectively, enabling a more streamlined selection pathway while maintaining confidence in site quality and reducing operational risk.
The process is designed to focus engagement on the information that matters most.
Early site engagement continues through a phone Site Selection Visit focused on recruitment potential and critical trial requirements, including logistics, capabilities, facilities and equipment. This discussion helps confirm critical considerations while remaining off the critical path to activation.
The measurable impact is significant. IQVIA data from 2023–2025, comparing sites selected through optimized and non-optimized processes using CTMS data consumed through SpeedCheck, demonstrated 37% faster site selection, based on the median time from earliest CDA/SSQ sent to site selection.
A related comparison measured from earliest CDA sent to site selection showed a median of 32 days for optimized sites compared with 72 days for non-optimized sites. Together, these results demonstrate how a data-driven and streamlined selection pathway can materially shorten the site-selection cycle for qualifying sites.
Importantly, this acceleration is achieved without sacrificing quality and is supported by data-informed site selection and established site relationships, helping maintain confidence in site suitability, enrollment potential and expected performance.
For sponsors, faster selection creates practical value. It supports faster study site identification, earlier movement into study start-up activities and better use of team resources. It also enables teams to shift attention sooner toward critical-path activities, including the work required to prepare sites for activation, without claiming that site-selection acceleration alone determines the final activation timeline.
The approach can also reduce site burden by streamlining interactions and focusing engagement on the information needed to assess study fit. Combining performance data, patient-access insights and established site relationships helps identify sites most likely to deliver successful outcomes. Improved site interactions support a positive site experience and help foster ongoing collaboration and future participation opportunities.
Optimized Site Selection should not be viewed as a shortcut or as a stand-alone solution. It is one component of a broader, study-specific strategy that considers the sites best suited to each protocol. By bringing together connected data, structured SSQ evaluation, performance insights and operational expertise, IQVIA helps sponsors identify appropriate sites sooner while maintaining confidence in site quality.
In an environment where speed, precision and predictability increasingly define clinical trial success, site selection can no longer be treated as another check-the-box activity. IQVIA's Optimized Site Selection transforms site selection from an operational milestone into a driver of faster, more predictable trial execution by combining data-driven insights, site performance intelligence and targeted evaluation.
This process enables sponsors to start stronger, focus resources where they matter most and build a more effective foundation for clinical trial execution.
Enhance patient safety and study quality by using data, analytics, and technology to monitor patient, site, and study performance with risk-based and centralized monitoring.
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