The idea that clinical trials struggle because there are not enough eligible patients sounds reasonable on the surface, but Areti Health sees something very different. The company was founded on a straightforward mission: redesign how trials identify, connect with, and enroll participants by using artificial intelligence and automation to make research more efficient, accessible, and inclusive. In their view, the true barrier is not patient scarcity. The real issue lies in slow communication, outdated workflows, and technical silos that keep willing and qualified individuals from ever learning about a study in the first place.
Rethinking the Recruitment Problem
Traditional recruitment depends on manual chart reviews, disconnected EMR systems, static spreadsheets, and uncoordinated communication across sponsors, CROs, and site teams. These methods slow down every step of the process, and staff spend a large portion of their day on administrative tasks rather than patient care. Weeks pass before anyone identifies a potential participant, and by the time outreach happens, the individual may have progressed in their condition or started a new medication that disqualifies them.
This creates a pattern of missed opportunities. Patients who meet the exact study criteria often remain hidden in hospital databases because no one has the time or infrastructure to locate them.
How Areti’s AI Coordinator Changes the Experience
Areti Health addresses the issue with an AI Coordinator that reviews medical data at scale, identifies high-fidelity matches, and communicates with patients in real time. The system integrates with Health Information Exchanges to screen thousands of charts within hours. When someone expresses interest by clicking an ad or responding to outreach, the AI immediately begins a conversation in the patient’s preferred language.
The interaction feels conversational rather than mechanical. The AI asks questions based on the study’s protocol, evaluates eligibility while the patient answers, and moves directly into scheduling when someone appears likely to qualify. The patient receives appointment options, directions, preparation instructions, and reminders automatically without waiting for a human coordinator to get in touch.
“Our AI tech can analyze study protocols and consent forms to generate IRB-ready materials in minutes rather than weeks,” says Paul Neyman, Co-Founder and CRO at Areti Health. “This allows us to launch recruitment campaigns rapidly while maintaining the highest standards of compliance and ethics.”
The result is a complete transformation of the recruitment timeline, from weeks to days, and in some cases, hours to minutes. “But beyond speed, we’re making trials more accessible to underrepresented populations and freeing clinical staff to focus on what truly matters: quality patient care and groundbreaking research,” explained Neyman.” “Ultimately, we believe that better recruitment doesn’t just mean faster enrollment; it means better science, more representative data, and life-changing treatments reaching patients who need them sooner.”
Viewing Recruitment Through a Communication Lens
Areti describes recruitment as fundamentally a communication challenge. Consider a kidney disease study happening inside a large hospital. A qualified patient may be receiving care nearby. Yet they never hear about the opportunity because their clinician is unaware of the trial, outreach materials are only available in English, or the recruitment team has not reached their chart during the review process. Traditional workflows often leave crucial information siloed across separate systems, and messaging often relies on one-size-fits-all approaches that do not meet patients where they are.
“We’ve seen cases where three different people contacted the same patient because systems weren’t synchronized,” says Neyman. Areti replaces these disjointed exchanges with a coordinated system that processes information quickly between teams and patients. Instead of waiting for human back-and-forth, the AI supplies timely, personalized communication that helps keep each interested individual engaged.
“Where we differ is that instead of weeks of back-and-forth communication, we enable what I call ‘intelligent orchestration’—the right information flowing to the right person at the right time, automatically,” explained Neyman. “By treating recruitment as a communication problem and applying AI to create seamless, real-time information flow, we don’t just make trials faster. We make them fundamentally more effective at connecting patients with potentially life-changing treatments.”
Recruitment Through Digital Channels
Many patients first interact with a study through social platforms. Areti runs campaigns through Meta, Google Ads, Reddit, and other channels. Each ad lands on a page with an embedded AI widget that starts the conversation immediately. Tailored messaging, informed by the needs of each study’s target audience, helps encourage higher engagement and smoother prescreening. Once greeted by the AI coordinator, the patient is guided through a short pre-qualification process, followed by a real-time eligibility assessment. If the patient is deemed likely eligible, the coordinator immediately moves to scheduling. According to Neyman, this next step is crucial. Once an appointment is scheduled, the clinical site receives a comprehensive pre-screening package that includes:
- Complete conversation transcript
- Pre-qualification assessment with a likelihood score
- Relevant medical history (if available from HIE)
- Patient contact information and preferences
- Scheduled appointment details
- Any flags or notes for clinical review
“The site coordinator doesn’t need to make a single phone call or manually enter any data, explained Neyman. “They receive a warm, pre-qualified lead who’s already engaged, informed, and scheduled.”
Generative AI With a Human Sense of Care
The use of AI in many places has become a touchy subject for some. When done correctly, it can streamline processes and make complex information simple to digest. However, when it’s not working optimally, ultimately, it can create a headache for the user. This is something the Areti team prioritizes. “Getting it wrong means either creating a frustrating, robotic experience or defeating the purpose of automation entirely”, said Neyman. “The key insight is this: generative AI doesn’t replace the human touch—it makes human interactions more meaningful by handling the repetitive, time-sensitive tasks that humans struggle with at scale.”
Although automation supports efficiency, Areti leverages generative AI while ensuring the experience is personal. Patients can ask questions at any time, even late at night, and receive accurate, protocol-specific responses. The AI adapts to each individual’s tone and preferred level of detail. When a question requires clinical judgment or emotional support, the system routes it to staff.
A Setup Process Designed for Speed and Low Burden
Launching Areti’s system typically takes about three weeks from kickoff to full launch. The platform is compatible with existing CTMS and scheduling tools, making the learning curve less cumbersome as staff are already used to the existing workflow. The goal is for the integration to reduce staff burden from day one.
Once recruitment is underway, qualified leads can come in just minutes. During a recent study that Areti assisted with, Neyman shared that they delivered an eligible, pre-screened lead to a major academic institution within five minutes of launch and continued to have regular leads emerging throughout the day.
Inclusive and Community-Driven Recruitment
Areti’s multilingual engagement, mobile-first design, flexible scheduling options, and partnerships with organizations such as BlackDoctor.org and Jump Health help reach communities that traditional recruitment often misses. The AI adapts language, tone, and cultural context.
“The FDA has been pushing for greater diversity in clinical trials for years, not just as a matter of equity, but because treatments tested on homogeneous populations may not work the same way in the diverse real-world populations who will ultimately use them,” explained Neyman. “Despite these mandates, most trials remain overwhelmingly white, English-speaking, and concentrated in populations with easy healthcare access. The problem isn’t that diverse patients don’t exist or don’t want to participate—it’s that traditional recruitment systematically excludes them through language barriers, cultural disconnects, geographic limitations, and accessibility issues.”
The company tracks demographic data throughout recruitment, including language, location, socioeconomic indicators, and representation compared to disease prevalence, to help sponsors build more inclusive studies.
A Better Path Forward
Areti Health reframes clinical trial recruitment as a communication and coordination problem rather than a patient shortage. By reshaping how information flows, how patients receive support, and how quickly teams can act, the company helps more people access potential treatments while easing the burden on clinical staff. The result is a recruitment model that moves faster, reaches farther, and opens the door to a more equitable research environment.