MyChart Recruitment Service
Inviting patients to participate in research studies through MyChart is a new recruitment approach that allows researchers to send targeted messages to patients who may be eligible for studies.
- The use of MyChart for recruitment requires IRB approval, but you must consult with us before submitting your modification. We assist with IRB modification direction.
- The MyChart Recruitment Service may not be a good fit for all studies. See "Using MyChart for Participant Recruitment" for more information.
- When you are ready to get started, fill out the Consultation Request Form . Check the box: “EHR Recruitment – MyChart and Recruitment Letter Service”. Please note that you will be asked to provide additional information once the form has been submitted.
If you have any questions, email [email protected].
Do you want to skip MyChart and send letters only? Read about our Recruitment Letter Service.
Eligibility
Studies wishing to use MyChart Recruitment Service must meet eligibility requirements.
The study must:
- Have or request an APeX Study Build (instructions below)
- Have a UCSF IRB number (External IRB approval is acceptable, as long as there is also a UCSF IRB record as well.)
- Send paper letters to non-MyChart users to address disparities in MyChart vs. Non-MyChart user patient populations.
PI and staff must:
- Be UCSF employees (and have a UCSF Employee ID number)
- Have or obtain APeX user accounts (instructions below)
Once recruitment starts, study personnel must agree to:
- Log into MyChart at least 3x/week once recruitment period starts:
- Respond to inbasket notifications from potential research participants within 1 week, preferably within 1-2 business days.
- Send recruitment messages to new batches of patients.
- Promptly report any technical problems, patient feedback, or complaints to PRP at: [email protected]
- Provide enrollment metrics for first 3 months of using MyChart.
Cost
There are three components to budgeting for MyChart recruitment: Set-up and Maintenance, Programming, and Letters for non-MyChart users. Once MyChart set-up is complete, study teams can use the infrastructure to send MyChart recruitment messages throughout the study recruitment period without any additional fees. (Note that any changes to the recruitment query or settings after the initial launch may incur additional fees.) Ongoing costs will typically be limited to the cost of sending letters to non-MyChart users.
Review each of these components carefully to estimate costs associated with this service. If you have any questions, please contact [email protected].
Set-up and Maintenance
Note: The first hour of recruitment consultation per project is provided free by CTSI Consultation Services; if your project has not yet used this service, the actual cost will be lower than estimated below.
$300-$500 (3-5 hours at $100/hour*) Set-up time includes project management, consultation on patient-facing message, guidance on submitting for IRB approval, and sending paper letters to non-MyChart users.
*Quoted rates are for non-industry sponsored trials; for more information on industry rates, see Consultation Services recharge policy.
Programming
$480-$960 (4-8 hours at $120/hour) Academic Research Systems (ARS) programmers work with the study team to develop the query for the recruitment reports. Recruitment queries typically take 4-8 hours per project, but can increase if the query is complicated. (This range is provided for budgeting and estimation purposes only; project estimates will be provided for each project before work commences.)
Letters for non-MyChart users
To address differences that exist in patient characteristics between MyChart users and non-MyChart users and ensure that all patients have access to research participation opportunities, PRP requires studies using MyChart for recruitment to also send paper letters to patients who are study eligible but do not have MyChart accounts. This service is built into the MyChart recruitment workflow and sending of letters will be managed by the PRP team as the honest broker. PRP staff will work with the study team to determine the scheduling of letters. The cost of the letters is $.53/piece, which includes paper, printing, and postage. There is a small amount of staff time to coordinate the mailing (included in the set-up and maintenance costs, above.) The amount you budget for paper letters will depend on study size, recruitment goals, and the number of potentially eligible patients at UCSF. (Use the UCSF Research Data Browser (RDB) to determine how many patients at UCSF meet your eligibility criteria. Registration and account activation is required. Visit the Research Data Browser page for more information.)
MyChart Recruitment Set-up Process
The set-up process for MyChart Recruitment can take about six weeks. This timeline is dependent on 1.) study team's timely completion of set-up tasks; 2.) availability and work queue of programming staff at time of submission; and 3.) IRB approval time. PRP will make every effort to keep the study team apprised of updates related to setup and expected launch dates.
MyChart Recruitment Service Process |
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1. Submit a Consultation Services intake form. Once you fill this out, your consultant will reach out to you to schedule an intake call. After the call, you will be asked to fill out a short Qualtrics form to provide some additional information. |
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2. Once the supplemental Qualtrics form has been submitted, a PRP plain language expert will draft the patient-facing recruitment message using the PRP standardized format for MyChart recruitment. The patient-facing materials and IRB submission instructions will be sent to the study team for review and edits within 7-10 business days following submission of the Qualtrics form. |
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3. Submit an IRB minor modification (PRP will provide instructions) and notify PRP once it has been submitted. |
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4. Meet with the data programming team to build your recruitment query. Your data consultant will contact you to set up a call within 1-2 weeks after you notify PRP that you have submitted your IRB approval.) |
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5. Concurrently with previous steps, study team should complete necessary APeX study set-up steps (see instructions below: Study set-up: APeX User Accounts or Study set-up: APeX Study Build for details). |
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6. Send IRB approval notification to PRP once it is received. |
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7. Once IRB approval, APeX Study Setup, and programming are complete, PRP will complete the final set-up steps within 3-5 business days. |
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8. Once set-up is complete, PRP will provide training materials and, if requested, schedule an optional training call with the study team. Study team can start to use MyChart recruitment. |
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9. Send monthly metrics reporting to PRP (PRP will send monthly surveys to Study teams). |
Using MyChart Recruitment
Once set-up is complete (see above), here’s an overview of how MyChart Recruitment works:
- Study staff logs into APeX and runs a recruitment report to find potentially eligible patients. This report is de-identified; each line on the report represents a patient that meets the eligibility criteria loaded in the report. Study staff selects the number of patients they wish to send recruitment messages to, and clicks a button to send the recruitment messages.
- Patients receive a brief email saying they have a new message about research. They can log into MyChart and land on a Research page (see image below) where they can read about your study. If they would like to learn more, they can click a button that says “I’m Interested”.
- For patients that click “I’m Interested” the study team will receive an APeX Inbasket message with that patient’s information. The study team can then respond to that patient per the study’s preferred workflow. (Tip: use a SmartPhrase to quickly reply to patients with information about your study.) Note that study teams never see the PHI of a patient until a patient expresses interest.
- The recruitment report updates nightly; patients who have already been contacted will not re-appear in the report and newly identified potentially eligible patients will be added.
A MyChart Research Recruitment tip sheet with detailed instructions is available on the APeX Knowledge Bank.
The “Research” page in MyChart:
APeX Study Set-up: User accounts
Having an APeX Study Build and APeX User accounts for your study team is a prerequisite to working with PRP on the MyChart recruitment service. Please see the detailed instructions below.
Study set-up: New APeX Users
1. APeX Training
All new APeX research users who will log into APeX to perform recruitment activities must complete five eLearning modules on the UC Learning Center. To access, please follow this link. This must be completed before requesting a study build (see APeX Study set-up: APeX Study Build below) but can be done concurrently with the Account Request Form (step 2 below).
These eLearning courses should be taken in the order listed below:
- Introduction to APeX for CRCs (estimated duration 11 minutes)
- The CRC and the Research Study (estimated duration 20 minutes)
- Creating and Associating Research Orders (estimated duration 15 minutes)
Note: If you are not using OnCore for another purpose for your research study you are not required to take the OnCore eCourses.
2. User Account Request Form:
Study PIs and CRCs will need to have accounts in APeX before the study can be built (see Study set-up: APeX Study Build below).
Concurrent with the training (step 1) you can request APeX user access via the Account Request Form.
Request form: https://arf.ucsfmedicalcenter.org/
Guide to creating a request: http://myapex.ucsf.edu/system/files/Tip_Sheets/Creating_an_ARF.pdf
You will need to request the following Role / Template:
- Template: Select RESEARCH → UCSF RSH RESEARCH COORDINATOR
Note about PI access: All PIs must create APeX accounts but if they are creating accounts for recruitment purposes solely, they only need to request the UCSF RSH RESEARCH COORDINATOR template.
Tips for completing the ARF: You will need to select an approver from your department—this is usually a manager, but not all managers have APeX approval authority. If you cannot find your manager in the system, please work with your manager to find someone in the database who would be appropriate to approve this request. You are also able to suggest an approver from within your department (this will take a bit longer).
Study set-up: Current APeX Users
Current APeX users who will be conducting MyChart recruitment must:
1. Have the correct research APeX User Template:
For Clinical Research Coordinators or other non-clinician: You must have the APeX User Template "UCSF RSH RESEARCH COORDINATOR" (Updates can be requested via an Account Request Form (ARF); at Step 3, click on the "Role/Template button and select RESEARCH → UCSF RSH RESEARCH COORDINATOR ).
For Clinicians with existing APeX access. You must have the APeX User Subtemplate: UCSF RESEARCH USER SUBTEMPLATE. (Updates can be requested via an Account Request Form (ARF); skip Step 3 (Role/Template) and in the General Comment box type: “Add Template UCSF RESEARCH USER SUBTEMPLATE”)
2. Ensure they are listed as a study coordinator on the APeX study build. (Submit an APeX Maintenance Ticket to add the person to the APeX study build.)
All account details can be confirmed by calling IT Support: 415-514-4100, press 1 for APeX, it is a good idea to check your account details to ensure everything is correct.
APeX Study set-up: APeX Study Build
APeX Study Build
If your study is not currently set up in APeX, you will need to submit an APeX Study Request form.
Once you have submitted the form, you will receive an automated email confirmation. Please reply to the email confirmation with the text: "this request is for MyChart recruitment and should be processed as non-CRB.” This will add a note to the ticket so that your request can be processed correctly for MyChart.
Please note that trainings and user account requests (see APeX Study Set-up: User accounts above) must be completed before the study build request is submitted.
Tips for completing the study build request form:
- Study Name: All APeX Study names start with “zz” —so this will be your study name preceded by “zz” (For example, “zzSAMPLE Study”). The study title (without the “zz”) will be patient-facing on the study description, so please keep that in mind when creating your APeX study name.
- Although Chart of Accounts (funding information) is a required field, if you are setting the study up in APeX for the purpose of MyChart recruitment only, there will not be any charges billed directly through APeX.
- When completing the form, make sure that the person who will be conducting MyChart recruitment is listed as a study coordinator on the request form.