Ep 2.28 Scott Burgher on Why 86% of Trials Miss Their Enrollment Deadline (Part 1/3)

Innovating Clinical Trials · Aug 12, 2026 · 19m

In Part 1 of this three-part conversation, Liam and Ted sit down with Scott Burgher, Director of Patient Operations at Quest Diagnostics, who brings over 20 years of patient recruitment experience spanning healthcare marketing, clinical trial agencies, large consulting, and big tech, to talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly of patient recruitment.

In this episode, Scott breaks down why recruitment keeps missing the mark. He argues that sponsor decision-making cycles are a massively underestimated blocker, a recruitment strategy can be fully approved by the study team and still sit…