An Integrated, Scalable, Electronic Video Consent Process to Power Precision Health Research: Large, Population-Based, Cohort Implementation and Scalability Study

Abstract

Background: Obtaining explicit consent from patients to use their remnant biological samples and deidentified clinical data for research is essential for advancing precision medicine. Objective: We aimed to describe the operational implementation and scalability of an electronic universal consent process that was used to power an institutional precision health biobank across a large academic health system. Methods: The University of California, Los Angeles, implemented the use of innovative electronic consent videos as the primary recruitment tool for precision health research. The consent videos targeted patients aged ≥18 years across ambulatory clinical laboratories, perioperative settings, and hospital settings. Each of these major areas had slightly different workflows and patient populations. Sociodemographic information, comorbidity data, health utilization data (ambulatory visits, emergency room visits, and hospital admissions), and consent decision data were collected. Results: The consenting approach proved scalable across 22 clinical sites (hospital and ambulatory settings). Over 40,000 participants completed the consent process at a rate of 800 to 1000 patients per week over a 2-year time period. Participants were representative of the adult University of California, Los Angeles, Health population. The opt-in rates in the perioperative (16,500/22,519, 73.3%) and ambulatory clinics (2308/3390, 68.1%) were higher than those in clinical laboratories (7506/14,235, 52.7%; P