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NIH Collaboratory
Living Textbook of
Pragmatic Clinical Trials

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Rethinking Clinical Trials

A Living Textbook of Pragmatic Clinical Trials

  • Design
    • What is a Pragmatic Clinical Trial?
    • Decentralized Pragmatic Clinical Trials
    • Developing a Compelling Grant Application
    • Experimental Designs and Randomization Schemes
    • Endpoints and Outcomes
    • Analysis Plan
    • Using Electronic Health Record Data
    • Building Partnerships and Teams to Ensure a Successful Trial
    • Intervention Delivery and Complexity
    • Patient Engagement
  • Data, Tools & Conduct
    • Assessing Feasibility
    • Acquiring Real-World Data
    • Assessing Fitness-for-Use of Real-World Data
    • Study Startup
    • Participant Recruitment
    • Monitoring Intervention Fidelity and Adaptations
    • Patient-Reported Outcomes
    • Clinical Decision Support
    • Mobile Health
    • Electronic Health Records–Based Phenotyping
    • Navigating the Unknown
  • Dissemination & Implementation
    • Data Sharing and Embedded Research
    • Dissemination Approaches for Different Audiences
    • Implementation
    • End-of-Trial Decision-Making
  • Ethics & Regulatory
    • Privacy Considerations
    • Identifying Those Engaged in Research
    • Collateral Findings
    • Consent, Disclosure, and Non-Disclosure
    • Data and Safety Monitoring
    • Ethical Considerations of Data Sharing in Pragmatic Clinical Trials
    • Ethics for AI and ML
    • IRB Responsibilities and Procedures

Implementation Readiness Checklist

CHAPTER SECTIONS

Study Startup


Section 2


Implementation Readiness Checklist

Expand Contributors

Gregory Simon, MD, MPH
Lynn L. DeBar, PhD, MPH
Jeffrey G. Jarvik, MD, MPH
Leah Tuzzio, MPH
Miguel A. Vazquez, MD

Contributing Editor
Elizabeth McCamic, MA
Liz Wing, MA

The checklist below identifies milestones that mark trial readiness.

Download as Word or PDF

 

Milestone Completed
Recruitment plans are finalized
All sites identified (documentation of site commitment)
Methods for accurately identifying participants validated
All agreements for necessary subcontracts in place (including DUAs if applicable)
Ethical/regulatory aspects are addressed
Coordinated IRB oversight in place
Finalized plans for informed consent or waiver of informed consent
Finalized data and safety monitoring plan
Intervention is fully developed and finalized
Finalized intervention (including materials and training at sites) ready for site implementation
Finalized protocol is IRB approved (informed consent and data collection forms, if applicable)
Data collection methods are adequately tested  
Validated methods for extracting and harmonizing electronic health record information
Validated study surveys, interviews, or other data collection modes
Demonstrated quality assurance and harmonization of data elements across healthcare systems/sites
Statistical and data analysis methods have been adequately developed and recorded
Budget is realistic, feasible, and accounts for potential changes
Trial registration is updated to reflect any changes to study protocol (including changes to outcome measures and analytic plan)

Previous Section Next Section

SECTIONS

CHAPTER SECTIONS

sections

  1. Introduction
  2. Implementation Readiness Checklist
  3. Additional Resources


Version History

January 29, 2026:  Added Gregory Simon as a contributor. Updated Implementation Readiness Checklist as part of annual content update (changes made by T. Green)

December 5, 2018: Updated Implementation Readiness Checklist as part of annual content update (changes made by L. Wing)

Published August 25, 2017

current section :

Implementation Readiness Checklist

  1. Introduction
  2. Implementation Readiness Checklist
  3. Additional Resources

Citation:

DeBar LL, Jarvik JG, Tuzzio L, Vazquez MA. Study Startup: Implementation Readiness Checklist. In: Rethinking Clinical Trials: A Living Textbook of Pragmatic Clinical Trials. Bethesda, MD: NIH Pragmatic Trials Collaboratory. Available at: https://rethinkingclinicaltrials.org/chapters/conduct/startup/startup-implementation/. Updated January 30, 2026. DOI: 10.28929/062.

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