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NGMC outsourced its administrative operations to Huron's Research Office, allowing internal resources to focus on conducting quality research, enhancing research capabilities, increasing community awareness and growing the research program.

Opportunity

It started with a simple inquiry: “Do you do research?”

Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC) was in the midst of an electronic health record implementation when this question was posed. It prompted a diverse range of responses, signaling a clear need to dive deeper into the organization’s research operations.

We were truly impressed by the level of experience, professionalism, organization, clear communication and credentials of each team member at Huron.” — Dr. Holly Carpenter, PhD, Director, NGMC Department of Research Administration

Approach

The Huron team met with key stakeholders to determine the current state of the research program, including volume and types of studies, personnel resources and research processes. NGMC chose to outsource its administrative operations to Huron's Research Office, allowing internal resources to focus on conducting quality research, enhancing research capabilities, increasing community awareness and growing the research program. The organization collaborated with Huron for recommendations on the most efficient, cost-effective and compliant path forward.

Results

By outsourcing its administrative operations, the organization would be better able to deliver the benefits needed to improve ROI and achieve its goal of enhancing research operations including:

• Improved understanding of their comprehensive research portfolio
• More efficient and standardized study startup processes
• Increased accuracy and reduced compliance risk through the development of coverage analyses and clearly defined billing processes
• Greater job satisfaction and retention of skilled research staff so that they could focus on conducting research versus administrative functions
• Increased revenue by optimizing study budgets and implementing sponsor invoicing processes

Huron’s Research Office provided the administrative solution the Department of Research Administration needed to focus internal resources on its core mission: conducting research. Download the case study to read more.