FAQ

Our organization was established as Meeting Protocol in Dallas, Texas in 1995 for the sole purpose of providing the pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry with a full-service clinical meeting planning company. Our purpose was (and still is) to be regarded as the best pharmaceutical meeting planning company in the world, and our level of service speaks for itself.   

We have the experience and capabilities to successfully organize face-to-face, virtual, and hybrid meetings as well as on-demand training in a cost-effective, efficient, and innovative manner. No matter the location, size, or scope of the meeting, Scout ensures that each attendee leaves engaged, motivated to enroll patients in the study, and with a positive impression of you.   

Only the name–our quality and commitment to our services remain unchanged. We continue to uphold the same high standards, dedication, and attention to detail that our clients have come to expect from us. Our rebranding as Scout represents an evolution, but our core behaviors and commitment to providing superior service remain steadfast.

Scout specializes in life sciences industry meetings of all kinds and sizes. Here are some of the types of events we plan:  

• Investigators' Meeting  
• Advisory Board Meeting  
• Team Building Meeting  
• Kick-off Meeting  
• CRA Training  
• Study Results Meeting  
• Study Update Meeting  
• Product Summit  
• Product Launch  
• Plan of Action Meeting  
• Sales Meeting  
• Marketing Meeting  
• Incentive Trip  
• DMC Meeting  

  Questions about your upcoming meeting? Just ask! Click here to request a proposal for your upcoming meeting. 

Scout Meetings are designed to help sponsors and CROs stay focused on delivering their message without worrying about technical issues. We take care of platform management, provide a simple presenter interface, and offer real-time engagement metrics, polls, and surveys. We're also FDA 21 CRF Part 11 compliant and offer full post-meeting reporting. Plus, we make archive management possible through Scout Academy.

Our virtual services are specifically tailored to meet the needs of sites. They're designed for ease of use, requiring no app or software downloads. Participants can engage in verbal discussions with presenters and other attendees, leveraging a variety of engagement tools designed to enhance the clinical trial process. Scout also provides live technical support and certification of attendance to ensure a smooth and productive experience.

Our various platforms are designed to cater to your meeting requirements, incorporating a range of features to enhance engagement and outcomes. They include real-time audience feedback through polling, group discussions, and Q&A, ensuring interactive and dynamic sessions. 

We also provide multiple engagement tools for attendees along with detailed post-meeting metrics, enabling you to measure impact and strategize effectively for future meetings. 

In addition, we understand the importance of inclusivity in global meetings. Therefore, our platforms offer live interpretation and multilingual chat functionality, allowing you to reach your audience in their local language. 

These features are available across our offerings, ensuring you have the tools you need, regardless of the platform you choose. That’s the long and short of it, but please reach out to our team for a more detailed personalized proposal.  

As you can imagine, there have been loads of opportunities over the years for us to put our motto into action. Here are some prime examples:  

• Hired an Elvis impersonator to reinvigorate a tired sales meeting audience in Las Vegas  
• Climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge with a client to help them overcome a fear of heights  
• Arranged an audience with the Pope for a group who thought they were just getting a tour of the Vatican  
• Collected sand samples from oceans, lakes, rivers, deserts, and even dormant volcanos on six different continents for a client’s son’s science project  
• Had a suit tailor-made for a presenter whose luggage was lost on an international flight  
• Asked the Backstreet Boys (who just happened to be staying in the same London hotel) for autographs when our clients were too shy to do so  
• Wimbledon tickets, Madonna tickets, Flat Stanley photos, private tours (including a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon), birthday cakes, anniversary celebrations, buying socks (and shoes, cufflinks, toiletries and ties), escorting attendees to hospital emergency rooms, staying up all night in attendees’ hotel rooms when they were sick…the list goes on and on.  

Short answer: It’s anything you need it be. Scout Academy is a secure, online, on-demand clinical trial site collaboration and learning management system that’s fully compliant and mobile-friendly. It’s designed to work seamlessly with Scout Meetings’ face-to-face and virtual meeting planning services, creating a holistic approach to study start-up and training.

There are plenty of ways to utilize Scout Academy: 

• Host on-demand trainings before and/or after face-to-face or virtual meetings to maximize time 
• Train new site and study staff in a consistent manner 
• Identify gaps in knowledge early and easily 
• Create content diversity by incorporating multiple forms of media 
• Deliver a personal message from Sponsor leadership to motivate and provide a greater connection to the study 
• Gamification to make interaction fun and exciting 
• Role-based training and access to documents by role and/or location 

• Consistent global training with written and/or oral translation of content 

Here’s what sets Scout Academy apart as a platform:  

• Efficiency for site start-up 
• Standardized training for consistent messaging 
• Quick turn-around time for fast access 
• 100% in-house web development to suit specific study needs 
• Flexibility to quickly update content as needed throughout study 
• Detailed, customized reports scheduled as frequently as requested 
• Cost-efficient, tailored fit with only what you need and nothing you don’t 
• Convenient, flexible and global 
• Based on Scout’s comprehensive understanding of clinical studies 
• Interactive features to engage your audience 

Scout Academy offers detailed, customized reports of user activity, comprehension, and completion. Our billing is always transparent with no surprises, ensuring you only pay for what you need and maintain visibility over your project.   

Scout Academy is designed to integrate seamlessly with Scout Meetings and Scout Clinical. This holistic approach ensures consistent training and messaging across different platforms, thereby increasing efficiency in study start-ups and ongoing training. This integration allows for a more streamlined process in managing clinical trials, from patient travel liaison services to regulatory review and stipends payments. 

Scout Academy provides a comprehensive suite of services for clinical trial collaboration, while Scout Academy for Meetings is a curated selection of those services specifically designed to elevate your meeting. Your ideal fit will depend on your unique needs, goals, and timeline.  

Scout Academy is ideal for studies requiring long-term access to allow for regular site and content updates as well as up-to-date information and tracked, reportable training for all study staff no matter when they join. It offers unlimited courses/modules, individual user profiles and login credentials, individual user completion tracking and certificates, regular reporting with module completion status, and an auditable trail for compliance purposes.  

Best suited for short-term access to meeting content and resources, Scout Academy for Meetings allows site staff to review meeting information on-demand and compile study resources in one central location where compliance tracking is not the primary goal. It includes a reduced number of courses/modules, site-level login credentials (one per site), site-level participation tracking and regular site participation report showing Scout Academy usage.  

 To find your perfect fit and get tailored recommendations from our experts, click here to speak with a Scout Academy expert. 

Scout can provide the following Patient Facing Documents: 

1. Patient Email Communication 
2. ScoutPass Brochure 
3. Patient User Guide 
4. Travel and Reimbursement Policy 
5. Study Brochure  

These Site Facing Documents (SFDs) are intended for use at the site level and detail the services Scout will be providing. 

1. Site UserGuide 
2. Travel and Reimbursement Policy 
3. Study Brochure 
4. Site FAQ 

As part of the regulatory support activities provided in our scope of services, Scout will review the main ICF and/or provide country and study-specific ICF addenda according to the scope of services provided by Scout and the country-specific regulatory requirements. 

All transportation and reimbursement requests are received and fulfilled within the HIPAA and GDPR compliant Scout Clinical portal. Unless explicitly required, no PHI or protocol-related information is collected or shared with the vendors used to fulfill the service.  

In any case where PHI is required to be shared with the vendor, this information will be documented in the ICF. 

Patient’s Personally Identifiable Information (PII) or Protected Health Information (PHI) are only disclosed on a need-to-know basis and only authorized users may access this information. 

There are different divisions of responsibilities within Scout, intended to ensure that those employees with access to patient PII are separate from the team with access to protocol information. Scout will never share any protocol-related information with its travel vendors.

Our Scout Clinical expense management services include: 

• Reimbursement 
• Stipend 
• Per-Diem 
• Post-Study Payments
• Direct to Lab/Assessment Payments
• Transportation Accounts
• Non-Study Related Healthcare Payments 

Stipend payments are flat rate payments made from Scout to the patient for visit completion, time/wage-loss, or meals/travel.  Stipends can be provided via our single-load or reloadable ScoutPass debit card, or check, bank transfer, Venmo, or PayPal.  

Out-of-pocket expenses incurred by the patient during travel and study visits can be reimbursed from Scout directly to the patient following submission of an Expense Reimbursement Request within the Scout Portal, or via the French Manual Reimbursement System. All expenses, except mileage, should be accompanied by a receipt unless an exception is made within the study policy. Payments are made by Scout directly to the patient.

Per diem is a flat rate payment intended to cover daily meal and/or transportation expenses during patient travel and visits.

Scout provides quick and convenient reimbursement and payment options in multiple currencies. Each patient within a study may select which form of payment they prefer at no additional cost to the sponsor. Patients can choose from:  

• Electronic funds transfer directly into their bank account 
• Single-load or reloadable ScoutPass debit card 
• PayPal 
• Venmo 
• Check (available in multiple currencies) 

 Expense Management guidelines are established during the Scout on-boarding phase and are aligned with study compliance as outlined in the ICF language and travel and reimbursement policy document. Site administrators or patients may request payments based on the configuration of the study.  

Each reimbursement request is reviewed based on compliance guidelines and queried if it falls outside of study constraints. Out of scope requests are escalated to the appropriate point of contact. Payments are approved and initiated for payment by the Patient Liaison team. 

As a standard process, receipts are not provided to the Sponsor/CRO. The Sponsor/CRO cannot access any patient personally identifiable information (PII) within our system associated with individual reimbursements or travel. 

Scout provides a range of ground transportation services to get patients from A to B:  

• Taxi 
• UberHealth/Lyft 
• Sedan/SUV 
• Wheelchair-accessible van 
• Non-emergency medical transport 
• Rental car  
• Round trip transportation of site staff to the patient (generally rideshare or taxi service) 

Scout offers the following air and rail services: 

• Flights (domestic and international)
• Rail (domestic and international)
• Boat/Ferry 

Scout offers the following assistance with hotel accommodation: 

• Hotel 
• Extended Stay 
• Long-term housing 
• Airbnb/apartment leases

Yes, Scout can arrange long-term housing for patients with extended duration visits or for whom international travel is necessary, or in the case that patients must stay near the study treatment site for an extended period.   

Depending on the patient's need, various types of housing are available ranging from extended stay suites, condominium, or apartment rental.  In the case that a single-family home is required, this may also be possible.  

Yes, Scout Clinical can accommodate special circumstances within our Patient Navigator services.  For those who require cross-border enrollment or are relocating internationally, we can arrange cultural liaison support, housing, and medical insurance. If medical/travel visas are required for the patient to travel to their site, we can also provide assistance

Scout can purchase travel medical insurance for individuals and families traveling internationally.  

There are a number of important considerations when purchasing medical insurance that will be specific to the countries involved and the specific circumstances of the travelers. We would be happy to have a conversation about how we can support your trial; click here to contact us. 

With extensive global regulatory expertise and experience in over 100 countries, Scout provides comprehensive assistance for cross-border enrollment and international transportation. We arrange and pay for all types of patient travel including ground, air, and rail transportation, accommodating specific needs like wheelchair assistance or non-emergency medical transport.  

For international patients, we can handle medical and travel visa processes, and coordinate the purchase of short-term travel insurance or medical insurance for those relocating internationally. We also arrange for suitable hotel accommodation or long-term housing as needed. For patients’ cultural liaison needs, our Patient Navigators are available to provide additional support during the study and help ensure a seamless process for both patients and sites anywhere in the world.

Yes, Scout will provide certified translations of the patient-facing documents and site-facing documents as needed. 

Scout is committed to providing as many services as possible to remove financial and logistical barriers for patients participating in a trial.  If you require a service that you do not see specified in our list, please ask! 

• Cultural liaisons and on-site live interpreters 
• Visit reminder phone calls and text messaging 
• Visa support
• Coordination of health insurance
• House/pet-sitting, childcare reimbursement
• Bus/ferry transportation
• IP transport
• Post-study payments 

Scout’s in-house team of Patient Liaisons serve as the dedicated point of contact for patients and caregivers throughout the life of each study. All Patient Liaisons are Scout employees with clinical trial, customer service and global travel experience. To maintain Scout’s mission and values of exemplary, personalized customer service, we do not utilize a call center. 

Some of the benefits of Patient Liaison services include: 

• Coordination of all aspects of travel itineraries 
• Ensuring expeditious patient reimbursements and payments 
• 24/7/365 live, multilingual support for sites and patients 

Scout’s Patient Navigators are an elite team dedicated to specialized logistical and payment support to those participating in clinical trials and their caregivers.  Like our Patient Liaisons, they are full-time employees trained on the unique needs of the clinical trials and patient populations to which they are dedicated. 

Patient Navigator services include: 

• Visit reminders and follow up phone calls to participants and their families. 
• Patient and family member profile creation and management in Scout system.
• Payment entry, oversight, tracking on behalf of the patient in the Scout portal.
• Insurance coverage coordination.
• Data consent process.
• Cultural liaison and interpreter coordination.
• Specialty relocation services:
  • Moving company and vehicle relocation research and guidance
  • Childcare/schooling research
  • Local amenity research and guidance 

The Scout Portal is a proprietary, web-based platform hand-crafted by Scout. It provides the flexibility to accommodate the unique needs of every sponsor, study, country, site and patient including detailed reporting, transparent billing and regulatory compliance. 

• Accessible via computer or mobile device 
• Patient and/or site accessible 
• Translated into over 200 languages 
• HIPAA, GDPR, MR-001, country-specific data privacy compliant

Once a patient is registered in the Scout Clinical system, a visit trip request or expense reimbursement request can be submitted by either the patient or the site. The portal provides access to the patient or site to all trip and payment information for the duration of the study.  Sponsor and CRO users can access the system to pull reports and view information on transactions in real time.