We all know survey participant experience is a major issue in our industry, but are we actually doing anything to make it better (other than just talking about it)? I want to focus on research with healthcare professionals (HCPs). This is a limited audience. We need to take action with ideas that can actually improve their experience so they continue to provide us with the insights we need. 

There is little doubt in my mind that HCPs want to provide their input on the healthcare industry. There’s also little doubt in my mind that HCPs get frustrated when they don’t qualify to provide their professional opinions. The more often they disqualify, the less likely they are to even try in the future. Using more detailed targeting to help ensure the likelihood of them qualifying is the first step in improving their experience and keeping them interested in doing market research.

How about we simply start with better, more detailed targeting? We know the information is out there. We’re a data driven industry though we don’t always seem to be using known data upfront to improve the respondent experience. As a quantitative field manager, I’ve noticed no issues targeting for specialty, but it’s quite variable beyond that depending on the panel partner. My ideal would be for panel partners to all have some other basic information profiled on all their healthcare professionals that can easily be relied upon to help increase incidence.

There is currently an initiative to create a “Centralized Screener Database”. It would essentially be a database capturing detailed targeting on HCPs that panel partners could utilize. They could pull the saved data points into the screener, have the respondent verify them, and then quickly move on to further screening/the survey. 

The most enticing part of this for me is the targeting as it gets us closer to the audience we need for a particular study and most importantly, will make it more likely for a particular participant to qualify, therefor improving their overall experience. 

In the discussions I’ve heard throughout the sample industry regarding the Centralized Screener Database, the overarching theme has been that it’s a great idea, in theory, but some barriers that may make it difficult to implement. I do see some barriers as well, but I also see a path to success. It’s often too easy to let the barriers make the decision. Let’s continue to push past the barriers and continue to think through ways to make this a success. At this point, simply saying shorter screeners and less qualifying criteria isn’t a solution; it’s a dream. Clients will always need some detailed criteria for certain studies. We need a solution to improve the screening process and participant experience for HCPs; The Centralized Screener Database could be part of this solution.