One of the biggest challenges pharmaceutical and medical device companies face in a clinical trial is the recruitment of patients to participate in the trial. The recruiting challenge has forced many trials to be delayed or put on hold due to lack of participation.

I ran across an informative article by Sean Johnson from HCPLive.com, which touts the benefits of social media as a recruitment tool.  A couple of key statistics used in the article:

• 57% of American Adults surf the Web for health-related information
• The Pew Research Center also reports 52% of Americans aged 18 to 64, and 75% of those aged 18-29, are on at least one social networking site

The potential for Social Networking as a recruiting tool is unlimited.  One key benefit is that allows you to target small demographics that traditional approaches have failed to reach.

Has anyone used social media to recruit patients?  If so, has it been successful?