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‘Interview’ is the term used for market research discussions; however, they are far from your typical formal job interview and definitely more enjoyable. During an interview, our clients might ask you to look at and handle a new medical device in development, like an inhaler, or maybe ‘walk’ your way through a website, giving your feedback on how it looks or feels. There are no right or wrong answers to any of the questions and all of your opinions are valid. Your feedback helps inform the design of healthcare products and services of the future, ensuring they are easy to use, safe, and effective for people with specific medical conditions. Please don’t be shy about sharing your views - they are a really important part of healthcare product development. You may be asked to handle a device containing medication, but never to take medication.

Your research interview is most likely to be held at a dedicated research venue known as a ‘viewing facility’, but sometimes we may ask permission for our client’s interviewer to visit you at home or a meeting place local to you. You might be invited to participate via telephone or an online meeting platform. The interview will usually be audio or video recorded so that it can be referred back to during analysis – but they will always get your permission first and tell you that this will happen when you are recruited.

We work with companies that develop medical devices, other healthcare products and medical services and are trying to ensure that these are the best that they can be before they are released onto the market.

Our interviews have no dress code and are held in an informal setting, meaning you can wear whatever you feel comfortable in. Sometimes, we may advise you to wear a particular item of clothing to allow for a specific exercise to be conducted, for example, trousers so that you can strap a dummy skin pad around your thigh to simulate an injection, but we will always let you know if we need you to wear something specific.

Unfortunately, you can’t tell anybody about the content of your interview. Most interviews must remain confidential and we will normally ask you to sign a confidentiality agreement before the interview starts. This is because some of the information in the interview might be commercially sensitive, or because we do not want any other participants to be influenced prior to their own interview. Your personal details also remain confidential and are never passed to anybody else (including our clients). However, we would encourage you to tell your friends/family about your experience of research in the hope that they may take part in future.

Research offers a range of benefits to patients willing to share their unique knowledge, experiences, and opinions. Whether through participation in an online survey, or a group discussion, those taking part in healthcare research have the opportunity to influence the development of medical devices, products, services and therapies, changing the healthcare landscape for the better.

In addition to this, those taking part in market research enjoy the opportunity to speak out and offer their unique perspectives on conditions and treatments in a safe, non-judgemental space, meet like-minded people, contribute to the improvement of new treatments and devices, all whilst being compensated for their time and contributions.

Healthcare research is a highly beneficial factor in a number of business and product procedures, allowing for the efficient and accurate gathering of relevant industry information, the validation of any existing internal research, and the collection of objective data, all of which benefit greatly in informing decision-making processes across the board.
In the healthcare and medical fields, research can be used to inform many processes and decisions, including the creation or improvement of both new and existing medical devices/products, the discovery of market opportunities, expansion, advertisement, and general business plans. Healthcare research may cover both qualitative and quantitative methodologies including interviews, focus groups, observations, surveys, questionnaires, and trials with patients, HCPs, and carers.

The sign-up process for healthcare research varies according to its organiser. Typically, applicants are asked to sign up to either an agency, or individual study online, and must take a screening survey in order to determine whether or not they’re a good fit for the panel or study. This screening questionnaire may work to determine specific conditions or align respondents with studies most suited to their characteristics. Often, following this survey, applicants will be interviewed over the phone in order to verify their answers to the screening questionnaire, and to ultimately determine their profile.

If all requirements are met, the respondent may then proceed to participate in the survey - or in the case of applying for a panel, join. Panel members may be contacted in the future with relevant opportunities.

A research participant is generally expected to take part in a set of activities designed to provide information used by professionals to complete a study. Their role often includes tasks such as completing questionnaires or surveys, and partaking in group discussions, interviews or focus groups. The exact requirements of a research participant’s role are dependent on the study.

The contributions of MediVoice Recruit’s research participants help shape the future of medical devices, products, services and treatments across the globe. If you’d like to become one of our research panel members as a patient, carer, or healthcare professional, visit our take part page to find out more.

Globally speaking, not all research is paid. The compensation received for the completion of a survey, interview or other task can vary greatly depending on the researcher or agency managing the study, with some covering additional expenses (such as travel or accommodation) required, some offering direct payment (this may be set, or per hour), and others offering payments to charity.

MediVoice Recruit highly values the time and effort devoted by our respondents. For this reason, we deliver fair compensation to all participants, whether through direct payment, an incentive or a donation to a charity or support group. This may vary according to the study selected - visit our current studies page to learn more.

Healthcare research benefits a wide range of people when completed successfully - primarily, those affected by health conditions. The end goal of most, if not all healthcare research completed by MediVoice Recruit’s clients is to produce or improve truly effective medical devices, products, services and treatments: the contributions of real people affected by conditions assist greatly with this. In addition to this, research offers a range of benefits to both Healthcare Professionals and patients willing to share their experiences, knowledge and expertise. Whether through participation in a group discussion or online survey, those taking part in research have the opportunity to influence the development of medical devices, products, services and therapies, changing the healthcare landscape for the better.

Those taking part in research enjoy the opportunity to speak out and offer their unique perspectives on conditions and treatments in a safe, non-judgemental space, meet like-minded people, contribute to the improvement of new treatments and devices, all whilst being compensated for their time and contributions.

Focus groups are a popular research method, often used by market researchers to gather feedback from and gauge the opinions of pre-recruited groups of participants. These groups are typically small to medium in size, and last for between one and two hours. During this time, organisers encourage and moderate an open discussion on a specific set of subjects.

Participants of focus groups are typically selected according to set traits or experience; however, researchers will often work to ensure the group is composed of a ‘mix’ of people, meaning many may have varying characteristics or belong to different demographics.

The amount of money paid for a medical survey, or medical research varies according to the research organiser or agency. Whilst occasionally surveys may pay nothing at all for participation, others will cover time, travel and accommodation expenses where necessary.
MediVoice Recruit truly values the time and expertise of our respondents. For this reason, we ensure that each of our client’s research activities is offered fair compensation. The compensation offered may vary according to several factors, for example, the length of the engagement, the speciality or condition discussed, the outlined requirements, and other expenses. This will be outlined in the research overview before participation.

Inclusion and exclusion criteria are a standard factor in any healthcare research. Typically defined as a collection of key features of the target population of desired participants, inclusion criteria often include a set list of required characteristics, whether these are demographic, clinical, or geographical. In contrast, exclusion criteria work to identify characteristics within otherwise suitable participants that mean they aren’t quite right for the research in question.

MediVoice Recruit works to establish patient suitability for studies early in the recruitment process, meaning our participants save time and generally partake in only relevant studies.

In the realm of medical research for devices, Human Factors (abbreviated to HF) is a critical phase in gaining approval for new products. It assists manufacturers in the optimisation of the device design and production process, utilising the knowledge and opinions of real people to identify issues likely to impede on performance. In addition to this, HF provides feedback as to the performance of a device within a typical user setting, ensuring opportunities for improvement are identified.

According to the BSI, completing HF research at an early stage within the design and development process is a key preventative measure against badly designed medical devices. Without HF, new products wouldn’t make it to market.

MediVoice Recruit divides the healthcare research participants it recruits into two primary groups: healthcare professionals (HCPs), and those diagnosed with an ongoing health condition of any type. For brevity, we may refer to the latter group as ‘patients’ - but do understand that those living with such afflictions are much more than a name, number, or diagnosis. We also understand that a vast majority of our participants don’t have acute conditions, but equally, would not want to be considered as having a chronic disease.

Your opinions and unique insight matter to us. If you’ve been diagnosed with an ongoing health condition, we’d like to help you speak out about your healthcare needs, and ensure your opinions are used to improve future medical devices and healthcare treatments. Register for our fully compensated healthcare research panels by clicking the ‘take part’ tab above.