Please note: A PDF version of this guide is available for download at the bottom of the article.

As a COI Review Board Coordinator, you will be assigned Conflict Matches to oversee and process. When you are assigned to oversee and process a Conflict Match, your role on that Conflict Match is the Assigned Analyst. The assignment is assigned to you during pre-review on the Review Assignment tab of the Conflict Match Processing screens. At this point, iRIS will populate your home screen with a Conflict of Interest Analyst Assignment task.  As an Assigned Analyst, you will be able to review the Conflict Match and process it by putting it on a Full Board review or Expedited review. Once the review is complete, you can then finalize the conflict match by generating a Management Plan or by simply approving it.

Analyst Assignments

Analyst Assignments are made within the Conflict Match Processing screens. The only users in iRIS who can be assigned an analyst role on a Conflict Match are the COI Board Coordinators.

When an assignment is given to a coordinator, a task will populate on that coordinator’s iRIS home page, under the Conflict of Interest Analyst Assignment tasks group.

The group can be expanded by clicking on the pen and paper icon, under the tab “Click to open”. When expanded, information about the Conflict Match will display. At this point, click on the Open icon to open the Conflict Match Processing screens.

Processing Conflict Matches

Once in the Conflict Match Processing screens, you can assign a Review Process to the Conflict Match.

Determine Review Process

Assign the Conflict Match to a Review Process by making one of the following selections.

Not Assigned - The Conflict Match will default to this status when it is first submitted to the Conflict Match queue. This indicates that a Review Process has not yet been assigned and causes the conflict to populate in the Not Assigned tab of the Conflict Matches queue screen.

Full Committee Review – This option allows you to assign the match to a meeting. After this option is selected, the committee and meeting selections will be displayed (see screenshot image below).

Expedite – If this option is selected, upon saving the selection, the screen will refresh with the option to select a reviewer(s).

Process Administratively – This process is a useful action for matches that need to be processed by administration, rather than by a reviewer; although, selecting this review process will also allow you to select reviewers for the match, if applicable.

Once you have finished selecting a Review Process, click the Save the Review Assignment button.

Reviewer Assignments

The Assign Reviewers table will populate once you make a Review Process selection and click Save the Review Assignment.

You may add as many reviewers as needed by clicking on the Add Reviewer button. At this point, you can then select Reviewer Role(s) and Reviewer(s) from the supplied dropdown lists. Click Save the Review Assignment to save the list of reviewers and send them notifications, as described below.

Once the reviewer(s) are selected, they will receive a notification, advising them that a Conflict Match is waiting for their review. However, if the Review Process is assigned to a Review Committee Agenda, the reviewer will not receive a notification until after the meeting manager enables the reviewer notifications for that particular meeting date.

Reviewers Complete Task

After assigning reviewers to the Conflict Match, you may exit the Conflict Match or continue processing additional conflict matches. iRIS will send you an email and add a corresponding home page task, when all reviewers assigned to a conflict match have indicated their review is complete.

The task will populate under the homepage’s Conflict of Interest tasks section, in the Submission Reviewers Complete group.

The group can be expanded by clicking on the pen and paper icon, under the tab “Click to open”. When expanded, information about the Conflict Match will display. You can click on the Open icon to open the Conflict Match Processing screens.

Opening the task will direct you to the Review Checklist and Comments tab for the Conflict Match.

Once the Reviewer has completed the task, you will be able to see it from the Reviewer Checklist listed in the Reviewer Check List table.

Click the View/Edit icon to view the checklist in “Read-only” mode.

The checklist will display as it was completed by the reviewer. When you are finished reviewing the checklist, click the Back button.

At this point, the review is complete for this Conflict Match. If the Conflict Match has been assigned to a full board meeting, you would wait until after the meeting to continue processing the match. If the Conflict Match has been assigned the Expedited review process, you could continue to process the Conflict Match based on the outcome of the review.

Setting the Outcome

When you are ready to set the Outcome information based on the review or the full board meeting, you can open the Conflict Match either from your homepage’s Analyst Assignment task list or by locating the Conflict Match in either the Conflict Matches queue or the Meeting Agenda page.

When you open the Conflict Match Processing screens, navigate to the Outcome tab.

The Outcome tab will allow you to specify the outcome for the Conflict Match. You will also be able to select items in the Reviewer Checklist and merge them into the Review Discussion, which can in turn be merged to Response Letters, Management Plans, and/or Meeting Minutes.

To merge an item, select the first check box next to the question in the checklist, right under the icon. Then, click the Merge Comments into Review Discussion button. This will cause the comment to populate in the Review Discussion tab.

Management Plans

If you need to send a Management plan to the Covered Person, based on the review, return to the Outcome tab.

Set the Review Outcome dropdown list to an outcome that indicates a Management Plan is required, in this example, the outcome “Approved with Conditions” triggers the requirement for a Management Plan. When you set this outcome, the page will refresh. The navigation pane for the Conflict Match will populate with more options, Management Strategies, Internal Routing, Management Plan & Outcome Letter, and Outcome Sent.

You will also be able to merge items from the review checklist into Management Strategies.

Click the third checkbox, right under the icon, next to the comment you would like to merge, and then click the Merge Comments into Management Strategies button at the top of the page.

This will cause the Management Strategies tab to populate with records based on the items you merged.  When you are finished setting the Review Outcome and merging items, be sure to save the Outcome page.

Management Strategies

After you set the Outcome indicating a Management Plan is required, you can create the Management Strategies for the Management Plan.

There are four ways to populate the page with management strategies:

1. The strategy can be merged from the Outcome tab. As an example, the screenshot above shows a strategy that was created using the merge tool on the Outcome tab.

2. Add Multiple Strategies – Click this button to add multiple strategies at once.  This tool is generally used when a list of strategies is already available in a Word document. You can copy and paste the strategies into the rich text editor provided by iRIS, add the Management Strategy Type, and then save the page to add all strategies at once.

As you can see in the image below, each strategy will be created in its own separate record.

3. Add a New Strategy – Click to add one strategy at a time.  

When you click this button, a rich text editor page will open allowing you to type in or copy and paste the text for a management strategy. To the left of the editor is a dropdown list, which allows you to specify the strategy type.

There are three strategy types:

Strategy must be addressed – The generally-used type for most strategies. This strategy type assigns the strategy to the Covered Person, who will be required to respond to the COI office with an acknowledgement.

Comments that must be addressed – When you select this type from the dropdown list, the page will refresh, allowing you to specify a separate follow-up due date that the Covered Person must respond by. This is different than the main management plan follow-up due date (assigned when you send the management plan to the Covered Person, a process which is covered later in this document).

Comments – Use this type when you want to simply leave recommendations to the Covered Person. The comments will be included in the management plan and will still require an acknowledgement back from the Covered Person.

4. Add Pre-defined Strategies – If you have a list of commonly used strategies, you can define a list under Review Board Administration > List Maintenance Setup > Predefined Strategies.

When you click the Add Pre-defined Strategies button, a page with predefined management strategies will open. You can select a strategy, and then click the Save Selected Strategies button.

The strategy will be added to the Management Strategies table with a type of “Strategy must be addressed.” Once you have your strategies defined, they will all appear in the Management Strategies table.  You can delete a strategy by clicking the red X icon next to the strategy. You can also modify a strategy by clicking the icon in the Edit column.

Strategies are displayed in the order you include them, but these can be reordered.  If you would like to reorder them, change the numbering in the Sorting Number column and then click the Save Strategies button.

Management Plan & Outcome Letter

The next step in preparing the Management Plan for the Covered Person is to generate a Management Plan Document and a Response Letter. Navigate to the Management Plan & Outcome Letter tab.

To create a management plan document, begin by selecting a template from the Select a Plan Template dropdown list within the Management Plan Document area. After the template is selected, click the Create Management Plan button.

After clicking the create button, a screen will be displayed with a rich text editor.  The text editor will contain the modifiable version of your document. You can modify the document, if necessary.  After making any changes, click the Save Management Plan Changes button.

Upon saving the document, you will be returned to the Management Plan & Outcome Letter screen.  A new record will populate in the Management Plan Document table with the document you created.  The document can now be sent from this screen or be bundled with the Management plan from the Outcome Sent tab.

You can also create a Response Letter to accompany the Management Plan Document, if needed. Follow the steps outlined above, but you can create the letter using the dropdown list in the Response Letter table.

Sending the Management Plan

Once you define the Management Strategies and create a Response Letter, the next step is to generate a response to the Covered Person. This is done from the Outcome Sent tab, shown in the screenshot image below.

From here you can provide a follow-up due date, indicate who is responsible for responding to the Management Plan, generate your response message, and finalize the Management Plan by sending it to the Covered Person.  Begin by entering a Follow-up Due date, if applicable.

Under the Outcome table is the Review process summary table. If this is the first round for the conflict match, this table will not populate with any information.  Later, if you determine it needs to be reviewed again after a response to the Management Strategies is received, this table will populate with information from the previous round.

The Personnel to Receive Notification table allows you to specify a user or users who will receive the management plan or outcome letter. The system will auto-populate the Covered Person and flag them as “Response Required” if the outcome is to send a Management Plan. If the outcome is Approved, the Covered Person will default as the primary recipient.

You can have additional recipients listed; these users will receive a copy of the Management Plan Letter and/or Outcome Letter. Click the Add Personnel button.

A new page will open, allowing you to search the iRIS database for a user to add. Search and find the user, and then click the Select User icon.

The user will be added to the table. You can select more than one user to receive the letter when you save the Outcome Sent tab, but you only indicate that a response is required from one user. This means that the system will create a task on the user’s homepage allowing them to respond to the management plan. Any other user listed here will receive a notification from the system, but not a task. You would typically indicate that the response is required of the Covered Person.

You can remove a user from the table by clicking the red X icon.

Any Management Plan Documents created on the Management Plan and Outcome Letters tab will populate in the Management Plan Document area. You will need to click the checkbox next to the document to include it in the response.

The Response Letter table will populate with any Outcome Letters you have generated. You will need to click the checkbox next to the letter to include it in the response.

If you have already sent the Management Plan or Outcome Letter from the Management Plan and Outcome Letter tab you will not be able to attach it to the response back to the Covered Person.

The last table on the page is the Email Notification table. To generate a response to the Covered Person, you need to select a template from the Email notification template dropdown list and click the Generate Response Message button.

The templates in this dropdown list are configurable and are set up under Review Board Administration > Review Board Notification Setup > Response Notifications. You can have any number of templates available, but you can select and generate only one for each match.

When generating a template, a rich text editor will populate, containing the content of the template. This template can contain merge codes that will pull in information related to the specific match you are processing. You will be able to modify the content by typing into the text editor.

Once you generate the Response Message, you will be able to save the response or complete it. To save your work, click the Save the Response Message button. Once you have selected all necessary information and included the letters in the response, you can complete the process by clicking the Conflict processing complete checkbox.

Note: Your message might look slightly different – it is contingent on the browser you are using.

Completing the processing will cause a message prompt. You will need to indicate OK to proceed with sending the response. Click Cancel to back out of sending the response.

Once you click OK, the system will bundle up any Management Strategies and the Outcome Letter and affix them to the email template you generated. This will send to anyone you selected in the Personnel to Receive the Notification table.

The conflict match will lock down to edits. If you indicated that a management plan is required in the Outcome tab, a new tab, Management Plan Response, will populate underneath the Outcome Sent tab (more is described below). If the conflict match is approved, the screens will still gray out and the review is complete in iRIS.

Note: In some cases you will be able to undo the completion of the conflict match: if the match is assigned to a Full Board Meeting and the Meeting Minutes for that meeting date have not been finalized or if the conflict match has been processed Expedited or Administratively Processed. Use of setting the match back to an editable state should only be used for certain cases, as when you complete the process, the letters and response message will bundle to the selected recipients again.

Response to the Management Plan

Once the Covered Person responds to the Management Plan, you will receive a notification and an iRIS home screen task allowing you to further process your submission.

The task will populate under the Conflict of Interest tasks, in the Conflict of Interest Analyst Assignment – Conflict Response Complete group.

The group can be expanded by clicking on the pen and paper icon. When expanded, information about the Conflict Match will display. You can click on the Open icon to open the Conflict Match Processing screens.

Opening the task will direct you to the Management Plan Response tab for the Conflict Match.  From here, you can view the Covered Person’s response to the Management Strategies and further process the Conflict Match.

Conflict Resolutions

Based on the Covered Person’s response, you will have three options to further process the Conflict Match; (1) you can close the match, (2) keep it open for your further review, or (3) indicate it must be reviewed again.

Closing the Match

If the response to the Management Plan is adequate, select the option, “Yes it can be closed.” After selecting this process and clicking the Process Response from COI Response button on this page, the system will close out the Conflict Match and indicate in the system’s COI logic that this Covered Person has his or her conflicts approved until the next Annual COI due date. Once you complete a Conflict Match, it will be locked down from editing.

Open Processing

As long as you are reviewing a response, your response on this page should always be “No still in progress.” This tells the system that you are not finished processing the current round of the Conflict Match. The Conflict Match will remain open and the system will keep the Covered Person’s Conflict Match status as “in-process” with the COI Office.

Further Review

If the response to the Management plan indicates that this Conflict Match needs another review round, select, “No must be reviewed again.” When you set this process and save the page, the screen will refresh and bump you to the Match Summary page.

When you choose this option, the system flags the Covered Person as “still under review” with the COI Office. Also, at this time, round number 3 is created for this Conflict Match. Notice that in the screenshot above, in the top left corner, the value for Review Round Number has updated to “3.” Every time you process a Conflict Match and indicate that it must be reviewed again, a new round will generate, allowing you the chance for further processing.

From here, you would go to the Review Assignment tab and assign a new review process, whether that is to assign the match to a full board meeting, or have it expedited. You will go through the same steps listed in this document, as applicable, until the Conflict Match is approved, or denied completely.

Approving the Conflict Match

When you are ready to approve a Conflict Match, navigate to the Outcome tab.

Set the Review Outcome dropdown list to an outcome that indicates approval. When you set this outcome, the page will refresh and the navigation pane for the Conflict Match will populate with more options: Internal Routing, Outcome Letter, and Outcome Sent.

When you are finished setting the Review Outcome and merging items, be sure to save the Outcome page by clicking Save the Submission Outcome.

Outcome Letter

The next step in preparing to send the approval to the Covered Person is to generate a Response Letter. Navigate to the Outcome Letter tab. From this area, you can create a Management Plan Document, if needed. Otherwise, you can just generate the Outcome Letter.

To create a letter, begin by selecting a template from the “Select a Letter Template” drop-down list. After the template is selected, click the Create Response Letter button.

After clicking the create button, a screen will be displayed with a rich text editor. The text editor will contain the modifiable version of your letter. After making any changes, click the Save Letter Changes button.

When you save the letter, you will be returned to the Outcome Letter screen. A new record will populate in the Response Letter table.  Once the letter is created, you can send it from this same screen, or bundle it from the Outcome Sent tab.

Sending the Approval

Once you create an Outcome Letter, the next step to complete is to generate the response to the Covered Person. This is done on the Outcome Sent tab.

From here you can review previous rounds of the Conflict Match, indicate who should receive the approval, and bundle the Outcome Letter with an email notification.

Under the Outcome table is the Review process summary table. If you are conducting the first review round for a conflict match, this table will not populate with any information. If the Conflict Match has been reviewed before, information from a previous round will populate in this table. You can click on the expand icon next to the Round Number column to review the details of a previous round.

When you expand the review round details, you will be able to see any previously generated Management Strategies and Management Plans.

The Personnel to Receive Notification table allows you to specify a user or users who will receive the response from the COI Office. The system will auto-populate the Covered Person and flag them as the Primary Recipient.  You can have additional recipients listed; these users will receive a copy of the Management Plan Letter and/or Outcome Letter. Click the Add Personnel button.

A new page will open, allowing you to search the iRIS database for a user to add. Search and find the user, then click the Select User icon.

The user will be added to the table. You can select more than one user to receive the letter when you save the Outcome Sent tab, but you only indicate one primary recipient.

You can remove a user from the table by clicking the red X icon.

The Response Letter table will populate with any Outcome Letters you have generated. You will need to click the checkbox next to the letter to include it in the approval notification.

If you have already sent the letter via the Outcome Letter tab, you will not be able to re-attach it in your response to the Covered Person.

The last table on the page is the Email Notification table. Before you can generate the approval to the Covered Person, you need to select a template from the Email notification template drop-down list and click the Generate Response Message button.

A rich text editor will populate, containing the content of the selected template. This template may contain merge codes that will pull in information related to the specific match you are processing. You can modify the content by typing in the text editor.

Once you generate the Response Message, you will have the ability to save the response or complete it. To save your work, click the Save the Response Message button. Once you have selected all the information and included the necessary letters with the response, you can complete the process by clicking the Conflict processing complete checkbox.

Completing the processing will cause a message prompt. You will need to indicate OK to proceed with sending the response. Click Cancel to back out of sending the response.

Once you click OK, the system will bundle up the outcome letter and management plan documents and affix them to the email template you generated. This will send to anyone you selected in the Personnel to Receive the Notification table.

The conflict match will lock down to edits and the review will be complete in iRIS.

Note: In some cases, you will be able to undo the completion of the conflict match: if the match is assigned to a Full Board Meeting and the Meeting Minutes for that meeting date have not been finalized or if the conflict match has been processed Expedited or Administratively Processed. Use of setting the match back to an editable state should only be used for certain cases, as when you complete the process, the letters and response message will bundle to the selected recipients again.

Internal Routing

During the life of processing a Conflict Match, you can also send an internal routing task within the system. When you create an internal routing task, you assign one or more users to internally review the conflict match.

The Internal Routing tab becomes available once you set a review outcome in the Outcome tab.

The Internal Routing tab contains a table, where you can define notes you wish to pass on for internal routing. Click the Assignment notes link to add these notes.

Underneath the assignment notes is a “Yes/No” selection. This is set to “No” by default. After selecting your routing assignments, make sure you set the selection to “Yes,” and then click the Save Routing List button.

You can compile a list of users needed to complete an internal signoff for a Conflict Match.  You can add members of the board and/or other non-board member users by clicking on the corresponding Add Review Board Routing or Add Non-Review Board Routing buttons.

Before completing the list of users to receive the routing task, you can assign reviewer-specific assignment notes to each user. Click the Assignment Comments button above the user’s name.

A text editor will open, allowing you to type in or copy and paste your comments. Click the OK button after adding your comments.

Your comments will populate to the right of the Assignment Comments link. These comments are specific to each user and will populate in the assignment when the user opens their task.

When the list is compiled and completed, select “Yes” in the, “Have you completed your selection of required routings?” field and click the Save Routing List button. The users assigned will receive your notifications and the tasks related to the assignment.

Internal Routing Complete Task

After assigning reviewers to a conflict match, you may exit the Conflict Match or continue processing.  iRIS will send you an email and a corresponding home page task when all reviewers assigned have indicated their review is complete.

The task will populate under the Conflict of Interest tasks in the Internal Submission Routing Complete group.

The group can be expanded by clicking on the yellow folder icon or on the Internal Submission Routing Complete link. When expanded, information about the Conflict Match will display. You can click on the Open icon to open the Conflict Match Processing screens.

Opening the task will direct you to the Internal Routing tab of the Conflict Match.

From here you can view the results of the previously assigned routing tasks and any comments added by the reviewers. You can also add to the routing list, if more users need to internally review this Conflict Match.