Towards a fair and transparent research participant compensation and reimbursement framework in Viet Nam
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Background:
Providing compensation for participants in clinical research is well established and whilst international guidelines exist, defining a context specific and fair compensation for participants in low resource settings is challenging due to ethical concerns and the lack of practical, national
compensation and reimbursement frameworks.
Methods:
We reviewed OUCRU (Oxford University Clinical Research Unit) internal reimbursement documentation over a ten-year period and conducted a scoping literature review to expand our knowledge of compensation and reimbursement practices including ethical concerns. We developed a preliminary reimbursement framework that was presented to Community Advisory Boards (CAB) and clinical investigators to assess its applicability, fairness, and transparency.
Results:
The main topics discussed at the workshops centered on fairness and whether the reimbursements could be perceived as financial incentives. Other decisive factors in the decision making process were altruism and the loss of caregivers’ earnings. Investigators raised the issue
of additional burdens, whereas the CAB members were focused on non-monetary elements such as the healthcare quality the patients would receive. All elements discussed were reviewed and where possible, incorporated into the final framework.
Conclusion:
Our new reimbursement framework provides a consistent, fair and transparent decision-making process and will be implemented across all future OUCRU clinical research in Viet Nam.
Providing compensation for participants in clinical research is well established and whilst international guidelines exist, defining a context specific and fair compensation for participants in low resource settings is challenging due to ethical concerns and the lack of practical, national
compensation and reimbursement frameworks.
Methods:
We reviewed OUCRU (Oxford University Clinical Research Unit) internal reimbursement documentation over a ten-year period and conducted a scoping literature review to expand our knowledge of compensation and reimbursement practices including ethical concerns. We developed a preliminary reimbursement framework that was presented to Community Advisory Boards (CAB) and clinical investigators to assess its applicability, fairness, and transparency.
Results:
The main topics discussed at the workshops centered on fairness and whether the reimbursements could be perceived as financial incentives. Other decisive factors in the decision making process were altruism and the loss of caregivers’ earnings. Investigators raised the issue
of additional burdens, whereas the CAB members were focused on non-monetary elements such as the healthcare quality the patients would receive. All elements discussed were reviewed and where possible, incorporated into the final framework.
Conclusion:
Our new reimbursement framework provides a consistent, fair and transparent decision-making process and will be implemented across all future OUCRU clinical research in Viet Nam.
Date Issued
2020-11
Date Acceptance
2020-08-26
Citation
International Health, 2020, 12 (6), pp.533-540
ISSN
1876-3405
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Start Page
533
End Page
540
Journal / Book Title
International Health
Volume
12
Issue
6
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Sponsor
Medical Research Council (MRC)
Identifier
https://academic.oup.com/inthealth/article/12/6/533/5962051
Grant Number
MR/R015600/1
Subjects
LMICs
Vietnam
ethics
participant compensation
participant reimbursement
remuneration framework
11 Medical and Health Sciences
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2020-11-09