Clinical trials don’t happen in boardrooms or on glossy conference stages. They happen in the engine room, at sites and CRO operations and in the day-to-day interactions between teams and patients.
In this episode of Clinials Insights, we sat down with Lorraine Dishman, a seasoned leader who has spent decades in the trenches of research, from site operations to CRO management. She spoke candidly about the human side of trials, the weight of compliance, and how technology - and yes, even AI in clinical trials - can support the people who make trials happen.
Compliance vs. Communication: translating rules into results
Every clinical trial is built on compliance. Regulations are non-negotiable. But as Lorraine reminded us, compliance on its own doesn’t keep trials moving.
“Compliance is the baseline, but clarity is what actually makes it work.”
Teams can tick every regulatory box, yet still stall if the information isn’t clear or usable. Sites and CROs end up stuck in loops of back-and-forth, struggling to interpret documents that may be technically correct but practically unusable. The result: missed deadlines, slower clinical trial start-up speed and site activations, and mounting frustration.
Clarity isn’t just a nice-to-have. It is, in fact, the difference between a trial that limps forward and one that runs smoothly.
The Resource Squeeze: doing more with less
Lorraine painted a familiar picture for anyone working in site or CRO roles: lean teams, limited budgets, and ever-growing responsibilities. It’s not the science that slows things down, it’s the sheer burden of documentation and coordination.
“Even internally, I can generate a synopsis in minutes (using Clinials), throw it on the screen, and go straight into resourcing and planning. Before, that took hours of manual PowerPoint building.”
The shift, hours down to minutes, isn’t theoretical. It’s simply what happens when the right tools are in place (from protocol synopses to site packs, ICFs, and more). For teams under constant pressure to “do more with less,” those reclaimed hours might prove the difference between meeting a deadline or burning out.
Patients and Trust: confidence as the deciding factor
At the heart of every trial is a patient making a decision: to join, to stay, or to walk away. Lorraine emphasized how fragile that decision can be.
“If the information isn’t clear, then how can we expect patients to be confident in the trial?”
Patients don’t judge trials on compliance checklists. They are humans and they judge on trust, clarity, and whether they feel informed. A poorly worded consent form or a confusing schedule of activities can undo months of effort. On the other hand, clear, human-friendly communication builds confidence, strengthens retention, and makes participation sustainable. As patient recruitment remains a strong challenge, globally, for clinical trials, every opportunity to improve the messaging, the marketing, and the engagement should become a top priority.
Tech and AI: enablers when they reduce noise
The elephant in the room was, of course, AI. Lorraine’s perspective was refreshingly grounded and practical.
“AI isn’t about replacing people - it’s about giving them back the hours they lose to documents and complexity.”
AI can’t replace the judgment, empathy, or expertise of site and CRO staff. But it can reduce the noise. Drafting summaries, building site packs, generating plain-language outputs, these are the kinds of repetitive tasks that eat up valuable hours.
When AI handles the busy work, humans can focus on what only they can do: engaging patients, ensuring quality, and driving trials forward.
The key, as Lorraine noted, is to use technology that reduces complexity rather than adding it. And remember that technology remains just a tool.
Adoption and Change: making clarity stick
New tools don’t transform trials overnight. Change takes structure. Lorraine underlined the importance of starting small: pilot with a study or therapeutic area, measure the outcomes, and expand from there.
The most successful teams don’t just “add another tool.” They build adoption plans: defining KPIs (time saved, revisions reduced), training teams on where in the workflow to apply the tool (where it fits into the known journey), and making sure governance and quality checks are in place.
That’s how clarity, and understanding, sticks (a non-negotiable to successful change management) and how new technology becomes embedded rather than abandoned.
Industry Implications: clarity as a new standard
Ultimately, the conversation wasn’t just about one site or CRO. It was about what the industry needs to prioritise if it wants to deliver on its promises.
People first, tech second. Tools must serve the humans in the system, not the other way around.
Clarity as a standard. Compliance alone is no longer enough; trials need to communicate clearly to both professionals and patients.
Efficiency as an ethical obligation. Saving time isn’t just about cost. It’s also about reducing burnout and accelerating patient access to therapies.
As Lorraine put it, trials are ultimately about people.
Every process, every tool, every regulation has to serve that truth.
Clinials in Practice
For us, at Clinials, these insights aren’t abstract; they’re the problems we’ve set out to solve.
Our platform helps research teams:
Turn dense protocols into plain-language synopses, site packs, schedules and risk assessments, and more, in minutes, not weeks
Generate recruitment and landing pages without design overheads
Ensure consistency and compliance with audit-friendly outputs
Cut silos and reduce re-work, so teams can focus on patients and progress
That’s how clarity becomes operational and how busy work turns back into meaningful work.
The frontline of trials is changing. Compliance will always matter, but clarity is what will define success. In this new paradigm, technology and AI have an increasingly important role to play not as replacements, but as enablers of people.
“At the end of the day, trials are about people. Every process, every tool, every regulation has to serve that truth.”
📺 Watch the full conversation with Lorraine here: Clinials Insights on YouTube
🚀 Try for yourself, and see how Clinials generates site-ready packs in minutes: Clinials Content Hub
