Improving the Quality and Performance of Institutional Review Boards in the U.S.A. Through Performance Measurements

Performance measurement leads to quality improvement, because performance measurement can identify areas of vulnerability to guide quality improvement activities. Recommendations from empirical institutional review board (IRB) performance measurement data on research approval criteria, expedited review protocols, exempt protocols, and IRB continuing review requirements published over the past 10 years are reviewed here to improve the quality and efficiency of IRBs. Implementation of these recommendations should result in improvements that can be evaluated by follow-up performance measurements.