The IRB's Position on Quality Projects vs. Research R. Peter Iafrate, Pharm.D. Chairman, Health Center IRB University of Florida

Issues? Many requests from medical residents and fellows to satisfy a QA requirement – Want to include it as scholarly activity – Submit as original research – Written as a research protocol National “QA” Databases – Often has a research component – Who approves sending the data?? Sometimes, hard to tell but not a “get out of IRB free card” 2

QI vs Research Does this project involve any of the following – Investigational Drug or Device – Randomizing patients – A fixed clinical protocol that may not be altered by caregivers and staff – A non UF\Shands\VA site Is the project currently the standard of care? Objectives other than producing an improvement in safety or care.

Intent\Background Quality Describes the nature and severity of a specific local performance gap Focus is to improve a specific aspect of health or health care delivery that is currently NOT consistently and appropriately being implemented at this site Research Identifies a specific deficit in scientific knowledge from the literature Proposes to address or identify specific hypotheses in order to develop new knowledge or advance existing knowledge

Methods Quality Mechanisms of the intervention are expected to change over time (i.e., an iterative activity) in response to ongoing feedback Plan for intervention and analysis includes an assessment of the system (i.e., process flow diagram, fishbone, etc) Research Specific protocol defines the intervention, interaction, and use of collected data and tissues, plus project may rely on the randomization of individuals to enhance confidence in differences May use qualitative or quantitative methods to make observations, make comparisons between groups, or generate hypotheses

Intended Benefit Quality Intervention would be considered within the usual clinician-patient therapeutic relationship Potential local institutional benefit is specified (e.g., increased efficiency or decreased cost) Research Intervention, interaction, or use of identifiable private information occurs outside of the usual clinician-patient therapeutic relationship Potential societal benefit in developing new or advancing existing generalizable knowledge

Risk Quality Risk is to privacy or the confidentiality of health information Risk may be described as higher for patients by not participating in this activity Research Risks may or may not be minimal, but may include physical, psychological, emotional, social, or financial risks, The informed consent process describes the risks to participants, who individually and voluntarily decide whether to participate or an IRB grants an alteration or waiver of the consent process

Results Quality Implementation is immediate so that review of results occurs throughout the process and may be used for next Ql activity Extrapolation of results to other settings is possible, but not the main intent of the activity Research Results and analysis may be delayed or periodic throughout the duration of the project, except to protect patient safety. The results will primarily be used to inform further investigations Results are intended to generalize beyond the study population

Sharing Information Quality System level outcomes, processes, refinement of the intervention, and the applicability of the intervention in specific settings/contexts might be shared through peer- reviewed publication and presentation outside the institution. Research It is expected that results will be published or presented to others through a peer-reviewed process

Quality vs Research Determination Process at UF Complete QA vs Research Form to Peter Iafrate If determined to be QA – Requestor will receive an , with an attached assessment letter and a stamped copy of their completed form as a PDF – ed copied to Randy Harmatz and Debbie Lynn – If later determine that they wish to publish that data Submit a retrospective chart review study electronically Upload PDF letter and stamped form If determined not to be QA, they will be instructed to submit to the IRB