From Search to Shortlist: How to Find Relevant Recruiting Clinical Trials for Your Patients

Finding a recruiting trial is only the first step

When a patient may benefit from exploring clinical trial options, finding trials that are actively recruiting is only the beginning. The harder part is knowing which trials deserve a closer look for the patient in front of you.

Time can make that difficult. In a 2025 physician survey, 72% of respondents said searching for relevant clinical trials takes too much time, according to research conducted by myTomorrows. Alongside your day-to-day clinical responsibilities, finding time to search public registries, review eligibility criteria, and make referrals to trial sites can be challenging.

A more focused search starts with the patient. Having the right information at hand, alongside resources that help you identify and evaluate trial options, can make better use of the time available.

Key summary

• Physicians can narrow clinical trial searches using relevant patient information such as diagnosis, treatment history, biomarkers and location.
• Pre-screening can help assess potential eligibility before formal screening by the site team, reducing uncertainty around which trial options may be appropriate to take forward.
• A patient-specific clinical trial search should consider clinical fit alongside factors such as location, active site recruitment, and referral requirements.

What patient information helps narrow a clinical trial search?

A focused clinical trial search starts with a clear picture of the patient. Before searching, gather the patient information most likely to shape which trials could be suitable. The exact details will vary by disease and trial, but may include:

• Diagnosis and disease characteristics: Disease stage, subtype, and other relevant clinical details.
• Biomarker or genetic information: Results that may be important for trials targeting specific patient populations.
• Previous and current treatments: Therapies received, treatment response, and relevant treatment dates.
• Medical history: Comorbidities or other factors that may affect participation.
• Age: Where age-related eligibility requirements apply.
• Location and travel considerations: Where your patient lives and their ability or willingness to travel.

With this information at hand, you can begin narrowing your clinical trial search. Depending on the search tool, filters such as recruitment status, condition, location, and trial phase can help you identify options worth exploring. You can then review the remaining trials against your patient’s circumstances, including factors that may not be captured by the available filters.

Applying these filters can help you prioritize trial options for further review. However, search results alone cannot determine whether your patient meets a trial’s eligibility requirements. That requires a closer assessment of the trial’s specific inclusion and exclusion criteria.

Where can physicians find recruiting clinical trials?

Physicians can search for recruiting clinical trials through public registries, disease and specialty-specific resources, and clinical trial search and matching platforms. Each offers a different way to approach the search, from broad access to trial information to more patient-specific support.

Searching across these sources individually, however, can add time to an already manual process. Platforms such as myTomorrows bring clinical trial information from multiple trusted public registries into one place, reducing the need to search and cross-check individual registries separately.

Understanding what each source offers, and where its limitations lie, can help determine where to begin.

ClinicalTrials.gov and other public clinical trial registries

ClinicalTrials.gov is a common starting point for physicians searching for recruiting trials. It allows users to search by condition, intervention, location, recruitment status, and other criteria. Trial records also include eligibility requirements, site locations, and contact information.

While this information can help physicians identify trial options, determining whether a trial is appropriate for an individual patient requires further evaluation. A trial listed as recruiting may not meet the patient’s clinical needs or eligibility requirements.

Broad searches can return large numbers of results, leaving physicians to review individual trial records to identify options worth exploring further. Even when relevant trials are identified, additional evaluation may be needed before pursuing a referral.

Disease and specialty-specific resources

Disease foundations, research networks, and patient advocacy organizations can offer resources tailored to a particular condition, including clinical trial finders, research databases and navigation support.

For example, physicians supporting patients with ALS can explore a range of ALS clinical trial resources such as the NEALS Trials Search, Trials Navigator by ALS Therapy Development Institute, and ALS Signal by I AM ALS. These resources offer different ways to explore ALS clinical trials, from research network listings to disease-specific dashboards.

The ALS Association also partners with myTomorrows to provide clinical trial navigation support for people living with ALS and their loved ones.

These resources can complement public registries by providing disease-specific information and additional ways to explore available trials. Used alongside broader clinical trial search tools, they can form part of a more comprehensive approach to finding trial options for an individual patient.

Clinical trial search and matching platforms

When evaluating clinical trial matching platforms, it can be useful to consider which trial registries they cover, whether they offer patient-specific eligibility assessments, and how they support communication with recruiting trial sites.

Physicians can use clinical trial matching platforms such as myTomorrows to identify recruiting trials and assess which options may be appropriate for their patient.

They can also access patient-specific pre-screening, where AI-powered technology compares anonymized patient information, including diagnosis, treatment history, biomarkers, and laboratory results, with trial eligibility criteria to assess potential eligibility.

Beyond trial search and pre-screening, myTomorrows enables physicians to communicate securely with recruiting trial sites through the platform, helping them explore next steps toward referral. The trial team then assesses the patient’s suitability for the trial and determines final eligibility during formal screening.

The value of these tools becomes clearer when considering the challenges physicians often encounter through the clinical trial search process.

Why is clinical trial search still so time-consuming?

For physicians, the challenge is often not a lack of clinical trial information, but the time and effort required to turn that information into options worth considering for an individual patient.

Several factors can also add to this workload:

• Complex eligibility criteria: Differences in how requirements are written and presented can make comparisons across trials difficult.
• Outdated recruitment information: Changes in recruitment activity may not be reflected immediately in public records.
• Limited site-level information: Physicians may need to contact individual sites to clarify current enrollment opportunities and requirements.
• Manual patient-to-trial comparisons: Assessing potential eligibility can involve reviewing clinical details across patient records and individual trial protocols.
• Referral coordination: Identifying the appropriate trial site contact and understanding referral requirements can involve additional communication and follow-up.

Reducing this workload is an important area of research. In a 2023 evaluation of AI-assisted clinical trial pre-screening, researchers estimated that a physician-in-the-loop approach could reduce the number of eligibility criteria requiring manual checking by 90%.

Beyond identifying recruiting trials, physicians also need to assess whether a patient may meet the eligibility requirements before deciding which options to pursue. Clinical trial pre-screening can help support this assessment.

What is clinical trial pre-screening, and how does it differ from formal screening?

Clinical trial pre-screening involves comparing patient information with relevant inclusion and exclusion criteria to assess potential eligibility before formal screening with the trial team. Physicians may pre-screen after finding a trial through a broader search or start with patient information to assess potential eligibility across trial options.

This can help physicians identify possible exclusions, where additional information may be needed, and focus their attention on trials that may be appropriate to pursue.

The key distinction is that pre-screening assesses potential eligibility, while formal screening determines whether a patient meets the trial’s eligibility requirements.

Pre-screening is based on the patient information available before referral. Formal screening is conducted by the trial team after a patient has been referred and may involve additional assessments, tests, and review of medical records according to the trial protocol. A patient who appears eligible during pre-screening may not meet all the requirements during formal screening.

Once a trial appears to be a potential match, physicians must also consider whether participation is possible at a suitable location. Even when a trial is listed as recruiting, enrollment activity may differ across participating sites.

Does “recruiting” mean every trial site is actively enrolling patients?

Not necessarily. It is therefore important to confirm whether the specific site you are considering for your patient is actively enrolling.

Before reaching out, you may want to establish:

• Current enrollment status: Is the site actively enrolling patients?
• Recruitment needs: Is the site recruiting for a particular cohort or looking for patients with specific disease characteristics or treatment histories?
• Site-specific requirements: Are there additional considerations that could affect whether the patient can proceed?
• Referral contact: Who is the appropriate person to contact about a potential referral?

Obtaining this information may require contacting individual sites, particularly when recruitment details in public trial records do not reflect recent changes.

For participating sites, myTomorrows allows clinical research teams to share recruitment updates and referral requirements through the platform. This can help physicians better understand a site’s current recruitment needs and determine whether to pursue a referral for their patient.

How can physicians find and refer patients to clinical trials?

With myTomorrows, physicians can search for recruiting clinical trials, assess potential eligibility using patient-specific information, and refer patients to participating trial sites through one platform.

Searching for recruiting clinical trials on myTomorrows does not require an account. However, registration is needed to access patient-specific pre-screening and referral capabilities.

The process involves five steps:

Step 1: Search for relevant clinical trials

Search for recruiting trials using criteria such as the patient’s condition, location, and trial phase. This provides an initial set of options to explore in more detail.

Step 2: Enter patient information to identify matching trials

Provide relevant medical information to support AI-powered pre-screening. The platform compares this information with trial eligibility criteria to identify potential matches for your patient.

Step 3: Review options with the patient and select a trial site

Review the matching trials and identify an option to pursue with your patient. As clinical trials may have multiple participating locations, select the specific trial site to which you would like to refer your patient.

Step 4: Refer the patient through myTomorrows

With appropriate patient consent, submit the referral through myTomorrows. The site’s clinical research team receives the referral and can review the patient’s information.

Step 5: The trial site reviews the referral and determines next steps

The clinical research team reviews the patient’s information and may invite them for a screening visit. Formal screening determines whether the patient meets the trial’s eligibility requirements and can proceed to enrollment.

Making clinical trial search more manageable

Finding a clinical trial for your patient can require time that you may not always have. Having access to the right information and support can help you make the search process more manageable.

Starting with relevant patient information, narrowing trial options, and assessing potential eligibility can help you determine which opportunities are worth pursuing.

Technology can help reduce some of the manual work without replacing clinical judgment. By bringing trial search, pre-screening, and site referrals together, myTomorrows supports you in exploring clinical trial opportunities while keeping your patients’ individual needs and circumstances at the center of the process.

Navigate clinical trial possibilities with myTomorrows

myTomorrows is a global health technology company that connects patients, physicians, trial sites, and BioPharma partners to enable earlier and better access to pre-approval treatments. Through a centralized, multi-stakeholder platform, myTomorrows combines AI-driven insights with human expertise to deliver tailored solutions that help overcome some of today’s greatest barriers to patient access. By simplifying and bringing transparency to the path of discovery and access to treatment, myTomorrows accelerates global patient access while supporting more efficient drug development.

Headquartered in Amsterdam, with an office in New York City, myTomorrows has supported more than 17,700 patients and 4,000 physicians across 1,777+ sites in over 144 countries and partners with 86+ of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies.