FEATURE

ResearchMatch: New Recruitment Tool Available Soon to Baystate Investigators

ResearchMatch is a new recruitment tool that maintains a free, secure registry of willing volunteers that researchers can tap into to find appropriate participants for their research studies. It was opened to volunteers in Fall 2009 and to investigators in Spring 2010. Already, there are 9,278 volunteers and 371 investigators signed up.

ResearchMatch Features 2 Types of Access
After researchers register on the ResearchMatch website, they can request either feasibility or recruitment access. (See investigator instructions on eWorkplace.)

• Feasibility Access
  Allows access only to aggregate data to determine if appropriate volunteers exist for a particular study.

• Recruitment Access
  Requires IRB approval and routing through Baystate's institutional liaison, Marybeth Kennedy, RN, CCRC.

Overview of Recruiting Process

• After being granted recruitment access, researchers can enter their study’s criteria in the ResearchMatch Search Builder. This will yield a list of potential matches to non-identifiable volunteer profiles in the registry.

• IRB-approved initial recruitment messages can then be sent out through ResearchMatch.

• Potential matches will have the option of replying yes, no, or no response. 

• Once a volunteer has authorized ResearchMatch to release their contact information, the researcher will be responsible for managing this contact information as called for by their IRB-study protocol.

ResearchMatch was developed by major academic institutions across the country as a Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) initiative, and is funded by the National Institutes of Health. Baystate is a particpating site through its affiliation with Tufts CTSI.

New policies addressing ResearchMatch will be in place in the next few weeks after which investigators will be able to fully utilize ResearchMatch for recruitment. For questions, contact Baystate's institutional liaison, Marybeth Kennedy, RN, CCRC at 794.7671 or marybeth.kennedy@baystatehealth.org