How do CRA’s Spend Their Time?

As reported in Outsourcing Pharma, a new study conducted by the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development shows that CRAs (clinical research associates)spend less than half their time doing on-site monitoring tasks. This report included close to 4,000 CRAs from biopharma companies and contract research organizations (CRO). US CRAs work an average of 178 hours a month while their European counterparts reported working 143 per month. The report went on to show that CRA’s spend 41% of their time in on-site monitoring tasks, 22% with off-site monitoring tasks, 13% with admin work and 5% spent in training. Furthermore, travel time takes up a large chunk of their time – roughly 20% with those in the US spending the most time on the road. Tufts senior project manager Mary Jo Lamberti shared, “The first step in more efficiently managing CRA time is to gather baseline data so that CRA managers are making informed decisions.” To see the full Tufts press release, click here.