Who is responsible for surveying and overseeing the Institutional Review Board?

The entity responsible for surveying and overseeing the Institutional Review Board (IRB) is the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). CMS is a federal agency that administers the nation's major healthcare programs and ensures compliance with regulations related to healthcare services, including those that protect human subjects in research.

The IRB plays a crucial role in approving and monitoring research studies that involve human participants to ensure their rights and welfare are protected. CMS's involvement in overseeing IRBs focuses on the compliance with federal regulations regarding research practices and the ethical treatment of participants in studies funded or regulated by Medicare and Medicaid programs.

Acceptance of oversight by CMS is part of a broader framework that includes requirements to ensure that research conducted within certain healthcare programs adheres to ethical standards and regulatory mandates. This distinguishes CMS’s role from those of other organizations that might focus on different aspects of healthcare quality and safety, thus highlighting the specific responsibility of CMS in the context of IRB oversight.