Accelerating regulatory progress in multi-institutional research.

Purpose: Multi-institutional collaborations are necessary in order to create large and robust data sets that are needed to answer important comparative effectiveness research (CER) questions. Before scientific work can begin, a complex maze of administrative and regulatory requirements must be efficiently navigated to avoid project delays.

Innovation: Staff from research, regulatory, and administrative teams involved in three HMO Research Network (HMORN) multi-institutional collaborations developed and employed novel approaches: to secure and maintain Institutional Review Board (IRB) approvals; to enable data sharing, and to expedite subawards for two data-only minimal risk studies.