Meeting Recap
The University Policy Review Committee (PRC) met virtually on March 18, 2021 and discussed several policy updates.
Christine Nelson, Director of the Office of Clinical Trials, presented an update to the Clinical Research Billing Policy, summarized below:
Beginning April 11, 2021 all NEW clinical research protocols will be evaluated by the Office of Clinical Trials (OCT) and if applicable undergo a central coverage analysis by the OCT Clinical Research Compliance Billing Team. The OCT team will then complete a Billing Coverage Analysis (BCA) for all studies with charges processed through Epic, including the following services:
- Medicare coverage analysis to determine billing status for any studies with study-related billing to patients
- Billing grid of services related to the study with research costs and codes
- Reconciliation of final BCA with consent form and any clinical trial agreements
- Epic calendar build for non-Oncology protocols
- Activation of the protocol in Epic
The Billing Team will obtain input from the research team prior to the initial build of the BCA, then meet to present the BCA to the research team and Primary Investigator (PI). When the protocol is ready to enroll, the Team will meet with the PI and all relevant research team members for a final compliance review and then complete the process by activating the protocol in Epic.
PRC Liaisons were excited about the changes and noted how these policy updates would simplify coverage analyses for PIs and the University staff members who support research.
Jen DeNeal, Associate Director for Ethics and Policy, reviewed updates to the draft Policy Review Committee Charter, discussed at the February meeting. PRC Liaisons approved of the delegate language and agreed that the appointment of delegates should remain optional, not a requirement. DeNeal agreed to post the final version of the Charter on the Policy Review Committee website.
Matthew Teal, University Policy Analyst, provided the committee with an update on the transition to a new University Policy Management System. Teal provided a comprehensive overview of the planned implementation and the “policy pause” beginning March 21 at 8 p.m. and continuing through early to mid-April when the new system is up and running. Teal noted that emergent or regulatory-mandated policy edits could still occur during the pause, and would be reviewed by the Policy Office on a case by case basis. Teal also outlined the plans to communicate both the pause and transition to a new system to all policy Issuing Officers immediately and the broader campus community later this spring. Policy Liaisons were grateful to Teal for his efforts and expressed their gratitude to him for his leadership in implementing the new system in a timely manner and with as little disruption to the University policy process as possible.
Who is on the PRC?
Members of the PRC represent schools and units from across campus and are appointed by their respective school/unit leaders.
When is the next meeting?
The PRC will meet again on April 15 at 10:00 a.m. via Zoom.