Author: Dave Hine, Associate Vice President, Financial Services
Snapshot:
On a weekly basis, I have the opportunity to speak with sponsor and CRO teams about how they manage global site and investigator payments. I hear how they’re working today, the challenges they’re navigating, and the creative workarounds they’ve developed to get sites paid and keep them engaged in the trial.
That’s no small task. Traditional investigator payment processes are still largely manual, time‑consuming, and administratively burdensome for both sponsors and sites. Teams are reconciling spreadsheets, chasing down approvals, and fielding constant questions from sites about when they’ll be paid and what each payment is for.
When I introduce Suvoda’s solution for Site Payments, I can validate the processes teams have put in place—and then show how much of that work can be removed through automation. For many organizations, that means reducing what used to be 1–3 hours of effort per invoice down to virtually no manual touch at all. (More than one client has told me they wished it only took three hours to review, approve, and execute each invoice.)
In many conversations, there’s a visible “aha” moment—smiles, head nods, sighs of relief, sometimes even jaws dropping—when stakeholders see how much time and effort they can give back to their teams and their sites through a modern site payments solution.
Unfortunately, I also hear the flip side: sponsors and CROs who selected a solution they thought would deliver automation, only to discover the reality was very different. “Automation” sometimes still means emailing spreadsheets back and forth, working with outsourced support that doesn’t understand the nuances of clinical research, and answering the same questions from sites: “When am I getting paid?” and, when a payment finally arrives, “What is this payment for?”
To help avoid those missteps and invest in a solution that truly improves the site experience, here are key factors to consider when evaluating site payments (investigator grant) technology.
Global expertise
Choose a partner that understands global nuances—regulatory requirements, local banking practices, and the financial and administrative challenges that sponsors, CROs, and sites face around the world.
Flexible delivery model
Confirm that your provider offers a delivery model that aligns with how your organization prefers to work—whether that’s a full‑service model (where the vendor manages the services), a self‑service model (where your team uses the software to manage payments), or a hybrid approach that combines both.
Transparency
Your solution should provide real‑time financial and workflow visibility. Sponsors and CROs need comprehensive reporting and oversight; sites need a clear view into payment status, timing, and details so they aren’t left wondering when they’ll be paid or what a payment represents.
Scalability
Clinical development portfolios evolve. Your site payments solution should be flexible and configurable enough to support any study or program—across sizes, geographies, therapeutic areas, and protocol complexities—while enabling standardization across the enterprise. It should adapt to country‑specific regulations and requirements without forcing you into one‑off processes or workarounds.
Look closely at product functionality and capabilities that will matter day to day for study teams and sites.
Invoice automation
The system should generate compliant invoices automatically so sites don’t need to create and upload their own. This reduces administrative overhead, minimizes errors, and helps standardize documentation across your portfolio.
Usability
Look for a user‑friendly, modern experience for both sites and sponsors: intuitive workflows, clear navigation, and streamlined tasks that remove administrative burdens from site staff so they can stay focused on research and patient care.
Approvals workflow
Look for multi‑level, customizable approvals that reflect your internal controls and governance. The right solution will ensure all required checks and authorizations are completed before any payment is executed, without adding unnecessary friction for your study teams.
Fixed and variable split payments
Site payment scenarios are rarely one‑size‑fits‑all. Your solution should be able to handle complex payee arrangements, allocating fixed or variable amounts or percentages to the right entities—by country, study, or site—without manual intervention.
Tax management
Global taxation requirements tied to clinical R&D (for example, VAT and GST) are constantly evolving. Your site payments platform should be flexible enough to be configured with the appropriate tax types, rates, and exemptions based on payer/supplier relationships and local regulations, so you can stay compliant at scale.
With specialized site payments technology like Suvoda’s, sponsors and CROs can streamline and gain visibility into what has historically been a complex, opaque process—ultimately strengthening relationships with sites and contributing to a smoother clinical trial experience for everyone involved.
Before you decide on any solution, confirm that it’s truly the right fit for your organization. One that delivers genuine automation (not just the promise of it), reduces friction for your teams, and makes it easier for sites to do business with you. When you get site payments right, you remove a major source of frustration and create more space for what matters most: advancing research and supporting patients.
Dave Hine
Associate Vice President, Financial Services,
Suvoda