The General Academic Pediatrics group at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh conducts numerous studies that require the subjects to read and review information about the study and then legally consent to participate in the study by signing a paper consent form. Seeing the opportunity to improve this process, Children's contracted Flipside to create the eConsent Manager. This online consenting system recreates the IRB (internal review board) approved legal consent forms while greatly enhancing the experience for the subjects and administrators. Flipside worked with Children's to design a system that is able to educate the subject on the details of the specific study through a number of informational animated videos. These video vignettes are collected into an every-growing library that can be utilized by future studies. An integrated glossary is available to reference difficult terms, and interactive quizzes ensure the subject understands the content. After watching all of the videos and reading the consent form, the subject can digitally sign the consent form. And should additional counseling be necessary, the subject is able to communicate with a researcher via the integrated video chat functionality. All of this can be done by the subject in the comfort of their own home, on their own computer, laptop, or touchscreen tablet.
Flipside designed a wealth of powerful features for administering study consents as well, including:
