IRB offices weathering foul economic times
Hiring & salary freezes are across board
While some industries are laying off large percentages of staff, forcing wage cuts, and making other sorts of draconian workforce changes unseen for generations, health care and research have been somewhat insulated from the worst of these measures.
Still the current economic crisis has had its impact on research offices and IRBs, experts say.
For example, many hospitals and universities across the country are freezing wages across the board, and this move impacts institutional IRB offices, as well.
At Harvard University's affiliated medical centers, all merit pay has been frozen for this year and possibly for next year, says Ramesh Gunawardena, MBA, director of clinical trial operations at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, MA.
Gunawardena says this is the first time this has happened in his 10 years of experience at the medical center.
Other cost-cutting measures have included eliminating most reimbursement for out-of-region conferences, freezing matching funds to retirement plans, and stopping a practice of allowing employees to buy-out their vacation time, Gunawardena adds.
The economic crisis has resulted in a couple of years of frozen salaries and understaffing at some small IRB offices.
"We haven't had any salary increases for a few years here," says True Fox, IRB administrator at Utah State University in Logan, UT.
Fox heads an office that has one fulltime and two part-time positions, although at least another fulltime employee is needed, she says.
"We have myself and one person at three-quarters for four to five years," Fox says.
Then when the office recently received its accreditation from the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRPP) of Washington, DC, the research organization was told the IRB office needed additional staff, she recalls.
So Fox was able to hire an experienced research coordinator but only for 30% of a fulltime position, she says.
"It's good to have her, but we're still short-handed," Fox adds.
For IRB and clinical research offices, the chief negative impact of frozen salaries and understaffing involves employee morale.
But this impact is somewhat muted as people look around them and see that just about everyone they know has experienced similar circumstances because of the economy's widespread problems, Gunawardena says.
"Since it's an economy-wide issue, that in essence helps," he says. "If it were only our institution, then the first option would be for people to jump ship and go find a job elsewhere."
IRB directors are seeing an impact on job openings.
There appear to be fewer IRB coordinator jobs posted locally, says Maryann Moreland, IRB coordinator at St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore, MD.
St. Agnes Hospital has a one-person IRB office, and it's unlikely the hospital would be hiring additional staff, even if the economy were better, Moreland says.
"I have heard from peers that there is a slow down in hiring," Moreland says.
This could be due to people staying put in their jobs because of the economy, she adds.
The Florida Hospital IRB in Orlando, FL, has had few staffing changes in the past five years, says Laura Orem, CIP, CIM, program manager.
"Basically what we're trying to do is restructure a little bit to make our positions more equal across the board," Orem says. "
For example, a secretarial position has been changed into a position with more IRB office responsibilities and cross-training with the rest of the four-person staff, she explains. "For instance, where we had an office secretary, a position we don't need as much because we're going electronic."
"Cross-training seems to make everyone happier, and it makes them feel more productive," Orem says. "And we are encouraging our employees to all become certified, and with that certification, we hope to offer a better salary."
The goal is that as IRB employees become better trained and as the office's electronic system improves with the possible addition of Web-based technology, the IRB office will be able to perform more in-depth reviews than is possible at present, she adds.
Despite the recession, the hospital has not placed any economic pressure on the IRB office, Orem notes.
Both Moreland and Orem say their offices have not seen any reduction in studies reviewed in the past year.
"We haven't seen our work go down this year -- we still have around 400 ongoing studies," Orem says. "We're lucky in that our administration sees that, as well, and they are supportive of the IRB and the IRB office."
The St. Agnes Hospital IRB deals primarily with investigator-initiated studies, and there has been no decrease in these, Moreland says.
However, whether an IRB office has experienced a decrease in staff, frozen wages and benefits, or no changes at all, morale in a bad economy can still be an issue.
"It's been very hard to keep up morale," Gunawardena says. "When you take away all these benefits and the merit raise, which actually is more of a cost of living adjustment, it's difficult."
When so many people, including perhaps friends, neighbors, and family of employees, are looking for work, everyone starts to worry about their own jobs, Orem says.
So IRB directors have to find creative ways to retain employees and improve morale.
For example, the Florida Hospital IRB has team-building outings, Orem says.
"For instance, we had everyone go to a class on listening, and we had brunch out afterwards," she says. "We've taken a scenic boat tour and had lunch out."
Each month the IRB office tries to do something that is a rewards/team-building exercise, Orem says.
"This is encouraged by our vice president, and we have a budget for it," she adds. "People do look forward to this, and it does boost morale."
The goal is to give employees a little reward that reassures them that they are valued and don't have to worry about losing their jobs, Orem says.
When the institution has no funding for morale-boosting perks, some directors will pay for these themselves.
For instance, Gunawardena takes his staff out to lunch each Friday, paying for it himself.
"It doesn't have to be a fancy restaurant; it could be tacos at Taco Bell," he says. "It's just a matter of doing things as a group."
Also, IRB managers could provide verbal incentives in the form of thank-you's, acknowledgement at staff meetings and compliments when warranted.
"At staff meetings, I always recognize the work other people do," Gunawardena says.
While some industries are laying off large percentages of staff, forcing wage cuts, and making other sorts of draconian workforce changes unseen for generations, health care and research have been somewhat insulated from the worst of these measures.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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