The Pennsylvania State University to use Click Commerce's eResearch Portal software

Click Commerce, the pioneer in customer-configurable solutions for the business of research, announced today that The Pennsylvania State University will use the company’s eResearch Portal software to fully automate researcher disclosures of outside financial interests. Researchers and administrators spread over 22 campuses throughout the state, including those at the University’s “special mission units” such as the College of Medicine, will be able to create, submit, review and update disclosures using Internet browsers. In addition, Penn State expects to link annual disclosure information in the Click Conflict of Interest (COI) database with the University’s internally developed Institutional Review Board (IRB) and Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) automated systems.

“It is exciting to see the leverage that The Pennsylvania State University will get from COI data sharing between systems of all types using eResearch Portal’s extensive capabilities”

Once the Click system is installed at Penn State’s University Park campus, research users will access Click Commerce SmartForms™ that will educate and alert them to conditions that may constitute a conflict of interest. The SmartForms will, at the same time, guide researchers through a variety of paths based on responses to questions. All responses are automatically compiled into an annual filing that a researcher can update whenever his or her financial position materially changes. Review processes for disclosures and any required management plans will match those of the University to allow the Office of Research Protections as well as the researchers’ departments to participate collaboratively. Click standard training and ongoing support will enable Penn State’s own team to further evolve the system’s forms and workflows as needed in the future.

“eResearch Portal will help us streamline our COI processes initially and, with its open architecture, also catch potential conflicts of interest during IRB and IACUC review processes,” said Candice Yekel, director of Research Protections at Penn State. “This will greatly enhance our ability to identify problems in real time and address them. Given the sensitive nature of the data we’re gathering, our researchers can be confident of confidentiality as we’ll be using Click’s Web Services to ensure secure data transfer between our systems and the Click platform. At the same time, we’ll also eliminate redundant data entries across multiple studies and groups—a major irritant for researchers and administrators alike.”

“It is exciting to see the leverage that The Pennsylvania State University will get from COI data sharing between systems of all types using eResearch Portal’s extensive capabilities,” said Nick Stier, president, Click Commerce. “We look forward to continuing to deliver solutions to Penn State that meet both their immediate and long-term research administration needs.”

Penn State and many other leading research institutions use Click Commerce’s browser-based, secure eResearch Portal to automate a wide range of administrative processes, including those associated with IRB, IACUC, COI, Grants, and Clinical Trials Participant Tracking and Billing, among others.

Source: Click Commerce