Selecting EHR-driven recruitment strategies: An evidence-based decision guide

Participant recruitment for research is a persistent bottleneck that can be improved by leveraging electronic health records (EHRs). Despite emerging evidence for various EHR-driven approaches, guidance for those attempting to select and use such approaches is limited. The national Recruitment Innovation Center established the EHR Recruitment Consult Resource (ERCR) service line to support multisite studies through implementation of EHR-driven recruitment strategies. As the ERCR, we evolved a guide through 17 consultations over 3 years with multisite studies recruiting in diverse biomedical research domains. We assessed literature and engaged domain experts to identify five key EHR-driven recruitment strategies: direct to patient messages, candidate lists for mailings/calls, direct to research alerts, point of care alerts, and participant registries. Differentiating factors were grouped into factors of study population, study protocol and recruitment workflows, and recruitment site capabilities. The decision matrix indicates acceptable or preferred strategies based on the differentiating factors. Across the ERCR consultations, candidate lists for mailing or calls were most common, participant registries were least frequently recommended, and for some studies no EHR-driven recruitment was recommended. Comparative effectiveness research is needed to refine further evidence for these and potentially new strategies to come.