The University of Chicago has partnered with a provider of online healthcare compliance and competency software to build a Web-based tool for the management and real-time tracking of conflict of interest disclosures.
The COI-SMART system was built in response to tighter regulations, including the new IRS Form 990 regulations, said Ben Diamond, president of New York-based Health Care Compliance Strategies.
"Most healthcare organizations have a burdensome and risky manual process for tracking COI disclosures," said Diamond. "This leads to large stacks of paperwork where disclosures can be lost and management review is virtually non-existent."
COI-SMART's interface provides automated control over the conflicts of interest disclosure and review process at the individual and institutional level. Diamond said the technology conforms to the process an organization already has in place or provides the framework for a new process, and also eliminates manual disclosure tracking.
The technology provides tools for automated assignment of reviewers, the development of COI management plans and data mining tools for auditing, tracking and reporting on potential conflicts of interest.
"The University of Chicago helped us design this to improve their current process and processes for others around the country," Diamond said.
Health Care Compliance Strategies specializes in compliance and competency training courseware and learning systems to hospitals, health plans, teaching facilities, medical schools and other healthcare entities.