Approving Codes

If your Study uses the Coder Approval Workflow feature, Vault requires that a more experienced coder (typically a coding manager or administrator) approves the coding decision before moving a Code Request into the Coded status. If your Study isn’t using this feature, then Vault moves the request into the Coded status upon coding.

You can approve or reject assigned codes. Depending on your study’s configuration, when you reject a code, Vault can post the entered rejection reason as a Note for the coder to review.

Prerequisites

Feature Enablement

To perform the actions described below, the Coder Approval Workflow must be enabled in your Study.

Required Permissions

The actions below are automatically available to users with the standard CDMS Coding Manager and CDMS Coding Administrator study roles. If your organization uses custom study roles, your role must grant the following permissions:

Type Permission Label Controls
Standard Tab Coder Tools Tab

Ability to access the Coder Tools tab
Functional Permission Manage Coder Study Settings

Ability to edit Study Settings in Coder Tools
Standard Tab Coder Tab

Ability to access the Coder tab
Functional Permission View Code

Ability to view coding progress
Functional Permission Approve Code

Ability to approve or reject assigned codes in Coder

If your Study contains restricted data, you must have the Restricted Data Access permission to view it.

Learn more about Study Roles.

Enable the Coder Approval Workflow

To enable the Coder Approval Workflow feature:

  1. Navigate to Tools > Coder Tools > Study Settings.
  2. Select your Study.
  3. Click Edit.
  4. Select Yes for Enable Approval Workflow.
  5. Optional: Select Yes for Enable Rejection Reasons if you want to post the rejection comment as a Note on the Code Request.
  6. Click Save.

Add Synonym List based on Approval

Vault can apply your approval decision to any matching Synonyms in the Synonym List when you select Apply to Synonym List while reviewing.

If you approve, Vault searches the Synonym LIst for a matching record. If a match is found, Vault sets the record to Active, and if a record isn’t found, Vault creates a new record in the Synonym List for this coding decision.

If you reject, Vault searches the Synonym List and updates the status of any matching record to Rejected. Vault ignores rejected synonyms while autocoding.

How to Approve a Code Request

To approve a Code Request:

  1. Open the Form in Coder.

  2. In the Actions menu, click Approve Mode. Approve Mode

  3. Optional: Switch to Group view if you want to approve groups of Code Requests at a time.
  4. Select the Code Request (or group of Code Requests) that you want to approve.
  5. Optional: Select Apply to Synonym List.
  6. Click Approve. Approve button

How to Reject a Code Request

To reject a Code Request:

  1. Open the Form in Coder.

  2. In the Actions menu, click Approve Mode. Approve Mode

  3. Optional: Switch to Group view if you want to reject groups of Code Requests at a time.
  4. Select the Code Request (or group of Code Requests) that you want to reject.
  5. Optional: Select Apply to Synonym List.

  6. Click Reject. Reject button

  7. If Rejection Reasons is enabled for your study, enter a Reason in the Reject Code dialog. Vault posts this reason as a Note on the Code Request.
  8. Click Reject.