Social networking meets patient recruitment

January 21, 2009 – 6:00 pm by Michael Christel

Finally, a more practical reason to go on Facebook than to just see pictures of my seventh-grade lab partner’s new pet schnauzer. This week, Acurian Inc., a patient recruitment provider, launched a new social networking application for clinical trial awareness called Click it Forward. The Horsham, Pa.-based company developed the application for exclusive use on Facebook and MySpace.

Here’s how it works: First, register and install the free Click it Forward application on your Facebook or MySpace page. Then, just invite your online friends and family members to “click it forward� and install the program. If they accept, Acurian makes a contribution to a medical cause of your choice, which you select when registering. Points are amassed for each user based on how many friends they recruit to join their cause. The more points you gain, the more money that Acurian donates to your cause.

In case you’re wondering if you can bankrupt Acurian by “friending� everyone in cyberspace, the company’s generosity is not limitless. Acurian states on the site that it “will make a total maximum contribution of $50,000 per year across all causes supported by users of the Click it Forward application, weighed toward those causes with the most supporters or evenly distributed among causes as appropriate.�

According to Scott Connor, Acurian’s VP of marketing, the company will raise money for more than 20 medical causes through the Click it Forward program. Acurian already maintains a database of more than 50 million individuals who have opted-in to receive new healthcare information, including opportunities to enroll in clinical trials. The company hopes Click it Forward will help grow its database even further and provide clients access to new patients.

“Social networking is an ideal environment for promoting clinical trial awareness and increasing Acurian’s direct-to-patient recruitment capabilities,� Mr. Connor said. “Facebook and MySpace together have nearly 200 million registered users, and we believe that Click it Forward plays well to these online audiences based on the application’s healthcare and altruistic characteristics.�

The application also integrates Google Earth so that users can see a cool, visual map of their own Click it Forward network. Another neat feature is the program automatically becomes part of your profile page, enabling Acurian to send you the latest clinical research opportunities available in your community.