Customer-Configurable Click Solution Will Speed Study Reviews
BEAVERTON, OR, March 31, 2010 – Click Commerce, the pioneer in customer-configurable solutions for the business of research, announced today that Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) will use the company’s eResearch Portal software to fully automate Institutional Review Board (IRB) and Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) compliance processes. While sharing a single platform and interface, the IRB and IACUC applications can each be tailored for unique requirements, with VCU’s own technical staff able to do the bulk of the configuration on their own using a starter site configured by Click. Once the system is deployed, researchers and administrators throughout VCU will be able to create, submit, review, approve, monitor and report on both human and animal studies using Internet browsers.
IRBs monitor the safe and ethical conduct of human subject medical and behavioral research, while IACUCs provide similar oversight of animal studies. Click Commerce eResearch Portal allows VCU to automate all IRB and IACUC workflow processes, eliminate routine errors and omissions, ensure secure collaboration, and alert researchers of approaching deadlines—all while using VCU’s own forms and pre-review steps. Click Commerce’s Web-based, configurable submissions system for IRB and IACUC applications distributes data instantly among research teams, speeding review and approval processes for all stakeholders. Based on their internal technical resources, each customer can decide how much of the solution they want to configure on their own and how much they want to configure working directly with Click’s professional services team.
“Having a suite of applications that can be customized to meet our unique requirements using local resources combined with strong references quickly sent Click Commerce to the top of our list,” said James Ward, Director of Research Information Systems in the VCU Office of Research. “Our team performed an extensive technical evaluation of Click’s eResearch Portal software and configuration tools, and their mentoring of our staff during our review set a positive tone for the current project while giving us confidence in the future development and enhancement of the solution to meet our changing needs.”
“Customer configurability is essential for localizing the system,” said Nick Stier, president, Click Commerce. “Large research compliance systems succeed by adapting to local conditions, satisfying local users and continuing to do so in the future, long after the system rolls out. It’s reassuring to see these values appreciated by customers like Virginia Commonwealth University.”
This new relationship with VCU also makes Click Commerce part of the Virginia Association of State Colleges and University Purchasing Professionals (VASCUPP) procurement portal, easing the way for other schools that are part of VASCUPP to take advantage of Click solutions.
Virginia Commonwealth University 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.
About VCU and the VCU Medical Center
Virginia Commonwealth University is a major urban public research university with national and international rankings in sponsored research. Located on two downtown campuses in Richmond, VCU enrolls more than 32,000 students in 211 certificate and degree programs in the arts, sciences and humanities. Sixty-nine of the programs are unique in Virginia, many of them crossing the disciplines of VCU’s 13 schools and one college. MCV Hospitals and the health sciences schools of Virginia Commonwealth University comprise the VCU Medical Center, one of the nation’s leading academic medical centers. For more information, see www.vcu.edu.
About Click Commerce
Click Commerce provides solutions for the business of research to leading academic medical centers and research institutions throughout North America. More information can be found at www.clickcommerce.com.
