Does getting the earliest screening help you?

[swanson234]

Are you more likely to be put on standby if you screen last or does it even matter?

[hairyscarylarry]

I try to go for the last day of screening, actually. Its happened to me several times... just a few days before the study starts.. they call me and say that the Sponsor decided to postpone the study a week or two. Then that makes my screening invalid, especially if I took the first day of screening.

Your screening results are only 'valid' for a certain number of weeks, I guess.

[carmel]

Feb 18, 2014 14:40:24 GMT -5 hairyscarylarry said:

I try to go for the last day of screening, actually.

Interesting. This is the first time I've ever seen anyone say this. The more popular logic is to screen as early as you can. The reason others have stated behind this is that they may already fill up the study with what they need early on in the screenings. But I like your logic... I could also see this as a benefit because they may remember you more as well. People remember what they last saw the most. Especially if you were very likeable. If it's true that some of these facilities are monitoring the behavior of participants 24/7, then why wouldn't they observe your behavior during a screening? If you were very nice and pleasant they may have preferential treatment for you if your labs were also good. It's just a thought, I obviously don't know this to be true.

[mike]

Celerion Phoenix determines who will be backups based on screening ; in other words, if you are one of the last people screening you are guaranteed to be a backup.
However, I don't know of another clinic that does this.

[hairyscarylarry]

I've been doing studies for almost 10 years. I was only an alternate once or twice. I've been pretty fortunate.... even though I screen later. By the way, I primarily go to Spaulding and Covance... once in a while if I'm desperate.

[swanson234]

No offense to people who do studies - I've seen some very intelligent, nice, professional people at these things. I've also seen a lot of absolute mongoloids - guys with their head on the table falling asleep during the briefing and guys talking about how lucky they feel to have passed the drug test. I really don't think the facilities give a damn about politeness or much else for that matter. All they care about is if you give them the ol immaculate health record for liability purposes to cover their own ***.

[vark]

this varies by location. some places, like or celerion or medpace, it's first come first served, other places screening makes no difference. it's a good question to ask recruiters. maybe people can chime in on what they know about who does what and we can get a list. in the study i'm doing now i chose the earliest date, to improve my chances of getting in, then the study was pushed back two weeks and i had to rescreen.

oh, and at kendle, now called soing else, you have to show up early for checkin, or they willmake you an alternate.
nobody told me that so i showed up on time for a $5K study and got sent home. at qrs-springfield, you have to not be at the end of the line on screening day because they overbook.

[simonsays]

Well, at the big clinic in DFW, TX, I think they go according to who screens first, for the most part. When you show up to screening, they already have a preprinted list of the participants for that time slot which seems to go according to the in which you called the 1800 number to sign up. So, there's really no reason to try to be the first one to put your name on the sign in sheet, your screening number has already been determined. That said, there is a human component to it: if your labs are stellar compared to other participants, you can be bumped towards the front of the line.
At PPD in Austin, I think it goes according to who signs first on those computer kiosks in the lobby. Whether they go by who signed in first on the first screening appointment or who signed in first on the physical is beyond me. I think that's totally up to their discretion, but anyway, they obviously go by the lobby sign-in computers. There's also priority cards at that clinic.
At Worldwide Clinical Trials in San Antonio, as far as I can tell, it goes (like the big DFW clinic) according to who is first to schedule the earliest screening. But, unlike the DFW clinic, they have priority cards which can pretty much throw it all up in the air.