Certified Clinical Research Associate (CCRA) Practice Exam 2025 – All-in-One Guide to Master Your Certification!

The answer focuses on price capping as an undesirable budgeting practice that exposes financial risk. Price capping refers to the practice of setting a maximum limit on the price of a project or service. While it may initially seem like a way to control costs, it can lead to significant financial risks because if actual costs exceed the capped price, the organization may not be able to cover those additional expenses. This situation can result in financial shortfalls, potentially jeopardizing the project's success or leading to compromises in quality or compliance.

In the context of clinical research, effective budgeting is crucial as it directly impacts resource allocation, trial execution, and ultimately, patient safety and data integrity. A budget that is erroneously capped may hinder the ability to address unforeseen challenges that arise during a study, making it critical for clinical research associates to ensure that budgets reflect realistic assessments of costs rather than artificial limits.

Other practices listed may have their drawbacks, but they do not inherently impose the same level of risk associated with mismanaged cost expectations that price capping does. For example, while non-refundable start-up fees, advances against subject payments, and withholding a percentage of payments might have cash flow implications or create operational challenges, they do not carry the same sort of overarching risk to budgeting integrity