10 Real-World Use Cases for ShowTx in Research SitesShowTx is a patient-matching and trial-feasibility platform designed to help research sites, sponsors, and CROs identify eligible participants faster and improve enrollment efficiency. Below are ten concrete, real-world use cases that show how research sites can deploy ShowTx across workflows to boost recruitment, retention, and operational effectiveness.
1. Rapid Feasibility Assessment for New Trials
Research sites often need to estimate how many potentially eligible patients they can realistically enroll before committing to a trial. Using ShowTx, sites can run quick, data-driven feasibility queries across de-identified electronic health record (EHR) cohorts to gauge:
- expected patient counts by inclusion/exclusion criteria,
- realistic timelines for enrollment,
- potential bottlenecks (e.g., competing trials, rare lab thresholds).
This accelerates site selection decisions and improves negotiations with sponsors by providing evidence-based enrollment projections.
2. Pre-Screening Patients from EHRs
ShowTx can integrate with site EHR systems or accept encrypted, de-identified datasets to pre-screen patient populations. Automated algorithms flag charts that likely meet key eligibility criteria, surfacing:
- demographics, diagnoses, and medication histories,
- recent lab results within specified windows,
- prior treatments that affect eligibility.
This reduces manual chart review and increases the pool of candidates given to study coordinators, cutting screening time and workload.
3. Targeted Outreach and Recruitment Campaigns
Once potential participants are identified, ShowTx can help sites run targeted outreach by generating lists segmented by condition, geographic proximity, or trial urgency. Use cases include:
- personalized recruitment emails or calls,
- outreach via patient portals,
- community-based campaigns aligned with identified demographics.
ShowTx helps ensure outreach is focused and compliant, improving response rates and reducing wasted effort.
4. Matching for Rare-Disease Trials
Recruiting for rare diseases demands precise matching and broad searching. ShowTx supports complex Boolean and phenotypic queries plus federated searches across multiple sites (when enabled), enabling sites to:
- find the few eligible patients faster,
- collaborate on multi-site referrals,
- prioritize high-probability matches for confirmatory screening.
This increases the likelihood of meeting enrollment targets for low-prevalence conditions.
5. Rapid Identification in Time-Sensitive Studies
Some trials require enrollment within narrow windows (e.g., acute stroke, sepsis). ShowTx can be configured to monitor incoming lab values, imaging reports, or ED triage data in near real time and alert study teams to potential candidates. This use case:
- shortens time-to-consent,
- increases chances of meeting time-based inclusion windows,
- reduces missed opportunities in emergency settings.
6. Improving Diversity and Equity in Enrollment
Sites can use ShowTx to stratify potential participant pools by race, ethnicity, age, or socioeconomic indicators (as available and permitted) to proactively identify underrepresented groups. Practical applications:
- measure baseline diversity among eligible patients,
- tailor recruitment materials and outreach strategies,
- monitor diversity enrollment metrics against targets.
This supports compliance with regulatory emphasis on representative trial populations and helps sponsors meet diversity goals.
7. Protocol Amendments and Expansion Assessments
When sponsors propose protocol changes (new inclusion/exclusion criteria, additional cohorts, expanded age ranges), sites can run revised queries in ShowTx to quickly estimate the impact on eligible populations. This helps research sites:
- advise sponsors on feasibility of amendments,
- forecast enrollment changes across timelines,
- plan resources for increased screening or new subgroups.
8. Cross-Site Referrals and Network Coordination
In research networks or hospital systems, ShowTx can facilitate identifying candidates at one site who might be better served at a nearby research center with the active study. Use cases:
- generate referral lists and eligibility summaries,
- track referral success and turnaround times,
- reduce duplication of effort across sites.
This improves overall network enrollment efficiency and patient experience.
9. Resource Planning and Workflow Optimization
By estimating screening-to-randomization ratios and expected screening volume, ShowTx outputs help sites plan staffing, lab capacity, clinic slots, and budget. Practical outcomes include:
- scheduling dedicated screening visits during predicted high-volume windows,
- aligning lab and imaging resources to anticipated demand,
- avoiding over- or understaffing during enrollment peaks.
These operational efficiencies lower cost per enrolled patient.
10. Enhancing Retention via Patient Profiling
Beyond initial matching, ShowTx’s data can help identify patients at higher risk of dropout (e.g., based on travel distance, comorbidities, or prior non-adherence markers). Sites can then:
- offer tailored retention strategies (transport assistance, remote visits),
- prioritize high-retention candidates for complex long-term studies,
- monitor retention-improvement interventions over time.
This preserves statistical power and reduces the need to over-enroll.
Implementation Tips for Sites
- Combine ShowTx outputs with brief human chart review for edge cases—automated matching is efficient but benefits from coordinator confirmation.
- Ensure data governance and patient privacy processes are in place before integrating EHRs or running live alerts.
- Start with a pilot study (one therapeutic area) to refine query parameters, alert thresholds, and coordinator workflows.
- Track metrics: time-to-first-screen, screen-failure rate, enrollment rate, and diversity—to quantify ShowTx’s impact.
ShowTx can be applied across the trial lifecycle: from feasibility and recruitment to referrals, resource planning, and retention. When paired with clear workflows and governance, it becomes a practical tool for sites to accelerate enrollment, improve diversity, and operate more efficiently.
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