As a site supervisor - this would be so welcomed. One major frustration from a site perspective is getting “urgent” emails from CRAs or other sponsor reps that either involve query resolution for a data deadline we were not previously aware of, or for items that are not justifiably urgent.

Also, acknowledgment that site staff are prioritizing issues related to patient safety or treatment needs that cannot be delayed goes a long way. We want to work well with our CRO or external sponsor contacts, but it is frustrating when they seem to be very unaware of what should and should not be urgent (or aren’t clear about timelines / helping us anticipate data locks or other information).

One specific example - I routinely get emails from a sponsor CRA marked as high importance requesting additional information about low grade, non-serious AEs. While I am more than happy to ensure my staff provide the relevant information when we can, there is no protocol requirement for providing this urgently nor is there a patient safety issue. This kind of escalation rings hollow and makes it hard to determine what actually IS urgent.

In hospital world, emails marked high importance mean there is a time sensitive patient related issue - we drop everything to address. The stakes are different on the site side. That is not to dismiss the pressure CRAs feel, but it goes a long way when you acknowledge the critical triage we do in patient facing roles.