In February 2011, the Division of Research Integrity & Compliance (DRIC) will launch an electronic system called e-COI which will replace the paper-based Financial Relationships Disclosure Form.
Once implemented, e-COI will vastly improve efficiency in the review process and save a tremendous amount of investigator time when completing and submitting COI disclosures. DRIC is confident that with this new e-COI system, we will improve our business processes and service to investigators, thereby further facilitating research at USF.
Since August 2010 DRIC along with its systems developers has been working with the Vendor (Click Commerce) to design the business process to submit electronic disclosures; conduct reviews through administrative procedures and by convened committee meetings; and generate all correspondence including email notifications. Investigators will find the electronic disclosure form more user-friendly than the paper form in several ways. Through e-COI the investigator will be directed to sections in the form that are pertinent to the situation where the conflict exists and as a result, e-COI will tremendously reduce the amount of time the investigator will need to complete and submit their disclosure.
DRIC plans to conduct the first round of testing of the system in January 2011. During testing, individuals will be allowed to submit disclosures through the e-COI system. These extensive training sessions will enable the COI Administrators and the developers to catch any glitches earlier in the process and make further improvements if needed.
It is expected that the system will be pilot tested in February 2011, with full implementation the first week of April 2011.
DRIC fully recognizes the need for a thorough training of the new system during the period of transition, and as such, will provide many training opportunities to the research community. Please stay tuned for detailed information about e-COI training.
The Office of Research & Innovation, USF Health, and University Audit and Compliance are very excited about this milestone towards a stronger and efficient research compliance program and look forward to a wonderful partnership with each and every one of our investigators. If you have any questions about the e-COI program or issues related to COI Program in general, you may contact Vinita Witanachchi, J.D., at 974-5478, vwitanachchi@research.usf.edu or Camille McWhirter, J.D., 974-6676, cmcwhirt@health.usf.edu.