Table 1 Metrics quantifying efforts to recruit clinicians for a one-hour telephone interview

Gaining entry

1. Number of contact attempts to site needed to establish authorization to recruit at a given site.

Obtaining accurate records (Figure 1 )

2. Percent of potential participants assumed eligible from employee database queries who were actually ineligible to participate ('dead ends’).

Reaching participants

3. Number of contact attempts to a potential participant prior to receiving an initial response.

4. Cycle time in calendar days from initial contact attempt to initial participant response.

Assessing willingness to participate (Figure 1 )

5. Percent of potential participants who declined (of those who responded to recruiter inquiry and were not lost to contact or ineligible).

Scheduling participants

6. Cycle time in calendar days from initial contact to interview completion for those agreeing to participate.