Research Concierge

The Research Concierge serves as the primary bridge between Chesapeake Cardiac Care (CCC) and Flourish Research Bowie, a clinical research site located immediately adjacent. This is a newly created role designed to maximize the conversion of established cardiology patients into qualified clinical trial participants through proactive schedule intelligence, in-practice engagement, warm handoffs to the research team, and ongoing patient education about clinical research. This person sits physically inside the CCC practice but is employed by Flourish Research Bowie. Success in this role requires equal parts clinical fluency, relational credibility with patients and physicians, and operational discipline around data mining and trial qualification workflows. Flourish Research Bowie opened in August 2024 as a dedicated clinical research site. The site's most significant - and most under-utilized - recruitment asset is the patient population seen weekly by Drs. Hutchinson and Collins at CCC next door. The Patient Navigator role exists to close that gap: converting physician-patient encounters into research enrollment conversations before patients leave the building.

KEY RESPONSIBILTIES:

1. Pre-Visit Intelligence & Schedule Scrubbing

• Review CCC clinic schedules weekly (at minimum) in advance of each physician's clinic day to identify patients who may qualify for active or upcoming trials
• Use EHR crawlers to data-mine the CCC patient database for qualifying diagnoses, medications, labs, and demographics
• Produce a prioritized candidate list for Drs. Hutchinson and Collins before each clinic day, flagged by study and qualification rationale
• Maintain and update a tracking log of patients identified, approached, and converted

2. In-Practice Patient Engagement

• Receive warm handoffs from physicians following in-room introductions to potential study candidates
• Conduct brief, non-coercive study conversations with interested patients in a private setting within CCC
• Walk interested patients next door to the Flourish Research Bowie site for a facility tour and/or extended discussion when appropriate
• Represent research participation as a positive, patient-centered opportunity - never as a sales transaction
• Document all patient interactions and disposition in Salesforce

3. Prescreening Support

• Facilitate limited prescreening activities for patients who express interest, including: vital signs (blood pressure), point-of-care testing, medication history capture, and brief eligibility screening
• Assist patients in completing informed consent for prescreening visits where applicable
• Schedule formal prescreening or screening visits at Flourish Research Bowie in coordination with the research coordinator team
• Communicate screening outcomes and patient disposition to the recruitment and clinical teams

4. Patient Education - Clinical Research Literacy

• Serve as a frontline educator on what clinical research is, how trials work, and what participation involves - for patients who are curious, skeptical, or entirely unfamiliar
• Proactively distribute site-approved educational materials in the CCC waiting area and exam rooms (brochures, FAQs, study-specific one-pagers)
• Address common patient concerns directly: time commitment, safety, compensation, the difference between research and standard care
• Build familiarity with the Flourish Research Bowie site across the broader CCC patient population, not only among patients currently flagged for a specific trial
• Contribute to developing and refining patient-facing educational content in collaboration with the Site Director and research team

5. Relationship Management

• Build and maintain trusted, ongoing relationships with CCC clinical staff, medical assistants, and front desk personnel to facilitate smooth referral flow
• Serve as a visible, accessible point of contact for patients who have questions about research participation
• Maintain awareness of all active protocols at Flourish Bowie to accurately represent study requirements and patient commitment

Requirements Required

• High school diploma or equivalent required
• 2+ years of experience in a patient-facing healthcare, community health, or clinical research setting
• Demonstrated ability to communicate complex medical or research information to lay audiences clearly and compassionately
• Comfortable with electronic health record systems and digital scheduling tools
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail in documentation
• Demonstrated discretion and professionalism in handling Protected Health Information (HIPAA compliance required)

Preferred (Not Required)

• Clinical background: Medical Assistant (MA), CNA, CRC, or LPN certification
• Prior experience in patient navigation, community health outreach, or clinical trial recruitment
• Familiarity with cardiovascular or metabolic disease populations
• Experience with EMR data mining or patient panel management
• Bilingual (English/Spanish) - a plus given community demographics

Benefits Private Health Insurance Paid Time Off Training & Development Flourish Research