Central REB Will Streamline Human Studies Compliance Processes for Cancer Trials throughout Ontario
BEAVERTON, OR, April 21, 2009 – Click Commerce, Inc., an ITW company (NYSE: ITW), announced today that the Ontario Cancer Research Ethics Board (OCREB), a program of the Ontario Institute of Cancer Research (OICR), will deploy Click Commerce’s eResearch Portal for electronic management of human research ethics proposals. The system will accelerate the timely review of cancer research proposals from the 17 hospitals and cancer centres throughout Ontario currently affiliated with OCREB, and also improve OCREB’s ability to manage increasing volumes of research. OICR/OCREB becomes the third major Canadian research institution to join the Click family of eResearch Portal users. The University of British Columbia and the University of Alberta are also currently relying on the compliance software to streamline research administration efforts.
REBs monitor the safe and ethical conduct of human participant medical and behavioral research. Click Commerce’s fully configurable eResearch Portal allows OCREB to automate all REB workflow processes, eliminate routine errors and omissions, ensure secure collaboration, and alert researchers of approaching deadlines—all while preserving OCREB’s own forms and pre-review steps. Click Commerce’s submissions system for REB applications distributes data instantly among research teams, speeding both internal and REB review and approval processes and reports.
“The growing number of submissions from our affiliated centres in the system presented enormous challenges to all stakeholders, not only in managing the increasing volume but also in ensuring consistency and accuracy,” said Janet Manzo, executive director, OCREB. “By centralizing and standardizing the process for all participating institutions throughout the province, the Click solution will enable researchers to increase efficiency while also ensuring the completeness and correctness of their submissions and improving reportability. Another advantage is that we can also allow sponsors controlled access to the REB information they require, further reducing the administrative burden on researchers. We’re confident Click’s eResearch Portal solution, with its ability to adapt to complex and changing regulations, will facilitate the uniform and high quality oversight of multi-centre oncology research that we aim to provide.”
“We’re pleased to support OICR/OCREB’s mission throughout the province of Ontario,” said Nick Stier, senior vice president in charge of Click Commerce’s Research and Healthcare Division. “With OICR/OCREB as the third institution to standardize on eResearch Portal in Canada, Click’s platform again addresses multi-user, multi-location challenges, in this case, specifically for the growing volume of cancer-related research in our world.”
The Ontario Institute for Cancer Research/Ontario Cancer Research Ethics Board and many other leading healthcare research institutions use Click Commerce’s browser-based, secure eResearch Portal to automate a wide range of administrative and compliance processes, including those associated with Grants, IRB/REB, Conflict of Interest, and Clinical Trials Participant Tracking and Billing, among others.
About Click Commerce Research and Healthcare
Click Commerce Research and Healthcare provides software solutions for the business of research to some of the premier academic medical centers and research institutions in North America, including the University of Michigan, Duke University and the University of Pittsburgh. More information can be found at research.clickcommerce.com.
