Contacts

Who this is for

This page is for teams that manage the people connected to organizations, sites, trials, or review workflows.

What teams use contacts for

• maintain a current directory of operational stakeholders
• connect a person to organizations and sites
• link a person into trial-facing workflows
• keep version history when roles or details change over time

When to create or update a contact

Create a new contact when the person is a distinct stakeholder who should have their own operational record.

Update an existing contact when the person is the same stakeholder and the work is correcting or evolving their current details, role, or linked context.

What matters most

• when to create a new contact versus update an existing one
• how contacts relate to organizations, sites, and trials
• how contact history and restore support audit-ready change control
• how media attachments fit into a contact record

Operational expectations

• A contact should represent a distinct person, not a temporary role placeholder.
• Contact updates should preserve history when identity, role, or linked operational context changes.
• Contacts should remain linked to the correct organizations, sites, and trials.
• Supporting media should stay attached to the contact record when it is part of the operational record.

What data users actually maintain on the contact form

Contact pages are structured more like a governed profile than a simple address book entry.

Users should expect contact data to be grouped into:

• details such as legal name, preferred name, display name, email addresses, phone numbers, title, role, and employment fields
• location data such as address and timezone
• identifiers such as NPI, ORCID, license, or related professional identifiers
• education, experience, licenses, certifications, memberships, and training records

That structure matters because contact pages are often used to prove not just who a person is, but why they are qualified, where they belong operationally, and how their relationship to the trial changed over time.

Typical workflow

1. Create or confirm the contact record.
2. Link the contact to the correct organizations, sites, and trials.
3. Update details as the operational relationship changes.
4. Review history when a change needs to be understood or corrected.

flowchart TD
	A[Create or confirm the contact record] --> B[Link to organizations sites and trials]
	B --> C[Update details as relationship changes]
	C --> D[Review history for sensitive changes]

Common mistakes to avoid

• creating duplicate contacts for the same person instead of updating the existing record
• leaving a contact disconnected from the organization, site, or trial context it serves
• treating contact edits as disposable instead of preserving meaningful history
• storing relevant contact attachments outside the governed contact record

Acceptance checks

• A user can create a contact as a unique stakeholder record.
• A user can link a contact to organizations, sites, and trials.
• A user can update a contact and later review or restore historical changes.
• A user can keep supporting media attached to the contact record.

Related pages

• Entity views and forms
• Organizations And Sites
• Trials

API reference

Use TrialStack API reference for exact contact create, update, linking, history, restore, and media contract details.