45 - Board Member Newsletter for Remote IRBs

Background: : With remote IRB meetings, one major challenge involves keeping board members engaged and current with policy changes, resources to aid in their reviews, and current board member backgrounds. Building cohesion and relationships among board members in a remote environment can be challenging, requiring utilization of a routine communication tool.

Program

Description: : Our company implemented a board member newsletter to keep primary and alternate board members updated on IRB resources, current topics, and member backgrounds, as well as member and consultant onboarding and exits as a mechanism to improve engagement. Because board meetings are held remotely and members and staff are located throughout the US and Canada, the newsletter provides a platform to update board members about operational practices related to the overall IRB function and board review procedures, as well as new and draft regulatory guidance and opinions to keep them current with industry trends and serves to inform of continuing education opportunities. The newsletter is published three to four times each year. Board member “spotlights” provide a glimpse into the professional backgrounds and personal aspects of highlighted members and are targeted at building and improving relationships given remote meeting environments.

Program

Assessment: : Implementation of the program has resulted in positive feedback from external board members in addition to internal staff. To date, board members have responded to receipt of the newsletter topics, noting that reference links to guidance documents and other resources have been very helpful and indicate that the personal profiles are enjoyable and informative to read. Board members are encouraged to follow up via an email link to internal staff regarding any questions, feedback, or suggestions they may have for future issues. The newsletter workgroup meets periodically to assess the draft list of newsletter ideas related to topics for future issues and works to ensure that timely communication related to items like new board review initiatives are addressed in each issue. Previous issues have provided feedback of survey results from board members in relation to IRB staff and work processes as a mechanism to promote quality improvement and IRB transparency.

Limitations:: Downstream effects related to improvements of board member performance based on newsletter review of guidance documents, updates to policies and procedures, and information on current operational shifts can be difficult to measure. Board members are assessed annually, but feedback cannot be directly linked to the introduction of the newsletter. Currently, the use of optional surveys and reliance on voluntary email correspondence from board members are the primary instruments to assess feedback and/or improvements.

Discussion: : Next steps include enhancements to the newsletter specific to better technology platforms that measure readership metrics and the quantitative assessment of process improvement. In addition, we plan on including spotlights on IRB employees and chairs so that external IRB members become familiar with the roles and backgrounds of key personnel who support their work with the IRB. This project could also be considered for other institutions or organizations who work remotely or serve as a single IRB for multiple sites to keep board members and/or individual site staff current on any updates to policies, procedures or operational processes and/or shifts.