For Investigators, Co-investigators, Sub-investigators and Referring Providers

We welcome any health care professional interested in becoming a research investigator to apply for clinical research credentialing with Pulse. The first step is to complete our short credentialing application. Submit the application and your CV/resume to the Pulse Heart Institute Research Team for consideration.

You can also offer your patients new treatment options and medical therapies by referring them to clinical trials. Simply review open trials and contact our team to refer your patient for a screening visit. Like referring them to a specialist, they remain your patient, and you receive regular updates and access to lab and other test results from the trial team.

Onboarding and credentialing to become an investigator with Pulse take an average of three to five hours. Depending on the complexity of the trial protocol you’re working on, expect between four and six hours of administrative time for study startup and training.

Once your study is underway, time spent outside clinical visits should average between 15 and 30 minutes per visit, depending on study complexity.

Involvement in research should not impact your ability to see patients. Our coordinators handle the scheduling and are often embedded in clinics to facilitate seamless management of research visits. They carry out research procedures and protocols as part of regular patient care, or by adding new research participants incrementally into investigators’ clinic days so participants can be seen by physicians between other patient visits.

Many of our investigators have said that participating in research has helped them increase productivity and grow their practices.

Research experience is not necessary, but it can be helpful in accelerating the onboarding and trial startup process. We tailor the types of trials to each investigator’s experience level, so those new to research can learn the fundamentals as they build a research portfolio.

Most of the day-to-day research operations for industry-sponsored and federally funded clinical trials are carried out by study coordinators, research assistants and research nurses. These duties include promoting studies, recruiting and screening participants, scheduling research visits, preparing and filing documentation, and collecting, cataloging and managing data throughout the study.

All studies are supported by at least one research coordinator. Our larger research portfolios have dedicated coordinators assigned to a specific indication or investigator.

Most of our investigators are compensated for their participation in research by a stipend to cover their administrative time over the course of the study. Industry trial stipends are negotiated as an addendum to the provider contract during the study contracting process. Government-sponsored trials often do not provide sufficient funding to support an investigator’s stipend.

Pulse has a team dedicated to supporting investigators in the development, design and management of health services research initiated by members of our health system, or investigator-initiated research (IIR).

The first step in an IIR project is to complete a literature search to validate that your idea is a novel concept and there is a gap in the literature. Our team can assist with this process.

Next you should draft research questions to pinpoint the problem you want to solve and schedule a time to meet with a member of the Pulse Research Committee to discuss the feasibility of a study and what support you might need, such as protocol design, grant writing, regulatory approval and data analysis.

Contact the Pulse Heart Institute Research Team