HOUSTON – There seems to be more and more money going into biomedical research, with not enough product coming out, according to researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

This is where iMedConsent comes into play.

Researchers at UTHealth have employed Dialog Medical’s automated consent solution to streamline their research processes. One of the drivers is decreasing administrative burden, in addition to decreasing regulatory burden.

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center already employs iMedConsent, but the challenge has been making the transition from clinical consents to research consents. Clinical consent is more repetitive, but in research protocols it can change, and each study is different.

“Really, the motivation is to try to improve the consent process,” said Tim Kelly, vice president, Dialog Medical. “Using the right consent form at the right point can enforce proper usage. "[Research consents] are much more involved and detailed than most consents.”

So far, researchers have given positive feedback, officials said. In a traditional consent system, it’s tough to keep up with paperwork, especially when multiple consents are required for a single study, or when it’s conducted in multiple languages.

“If you stop and think about it, dealing with thousands of paper records, and all those details, having to manually reread those, is not efficient,” Bill Weems, assistant vice president for academic technology for UTHealth, said.

UTHealth started using the  EHR-integrated application in its tissue banking groups and is now fully-deployed in phase two of its automated consent pilot.

“To get consents in a structured fashion is where we’re really going to see the benefit,” said Phillip Reeder, manager, Systems Analysis and Services at UTHealth.

The solution is integrated with IRIS research system, UTHealth’s research software that facilitates the IRB submissions and the general management of the various research studies orchestrated by the university. Once the IRB approves the consent form, it automatically flows into the process.

“In the long run, it will save us immense time and expense,” Reeder said.

iMedConsent information is accessible from multiple locations for a variety of people, including auditors, and specific language can be standardized across certain studies – which on paper forms requires a manual process and can waste time. Multi-center studies can be put together, which also is much harder to do in paper form where many errors can creep in, officials said.

Using iMedConsent, officials at the university hope they'll be able to use fewer staff for studies and that the departments can do better in audits. All departments covered by the UT IRB are eligible to eventually use the application.

Future uses for iMedConsent might include improving HIPAA forms and its process.