Five signs your practice has outgrown spreadsheets for research.

1. The same information lives in several places

If a visit date sits in a calendar, a tracking sheet and a paper source file, someone has to keep all three in step. Every copy is another chance for them to disagree, and it's usually a coordinator who finds out when a monitor asks.

2. Only one person knows where things stand

Many practices run research with a very small team. If the answer to "which subjects are due this week?" depends on one coordinator's spreadsheet or memory, a sick day can become a missed visit window.

3. Consent checks happen by memory

Informed consent forms often change during a study. When a new version is approved, staff need to know who must re-consent before the next visit. A paper log can record that, but it can't stop a visit from going ahead.

4. Monitoring visits take days to prepare for

If getting ready means pulling binders, printing documents and checking signatures by hand, the work takes time away from subjects and patients. It can also show you gaps only when it's late to fix them.

5. Invoicing starts with detective work

To invoice a sponsor, someone has to work out which visits happened, what each is worth under the contract, and what has already been billed. When documentation and billing are kept apart, that matching is done by hand, and billable work is easier to miss.

What to look for next

Your EHR and billing software are built for patient care and insurance claims, so they don't usually cover protocols, schedules of activities, consent versions or sponsor invoices. A research system should fit the people already doing the work, without needing a dedicated administrator.

We built PAS OneCore for this situation. See how it works on our page about clinical trial software for private practices.

See if it fits your practice

Tell us how your office runs research today, and we'll show you what would change.