Studies that use audit method or "mystery-shopper technique" are widely used to understand the experiences of patients although they raise several ethical challenges. This month, we will discuss a study that uses an audit method where patients act as real patients buying birth control online from well known tele-birth control vendors. What are some of the ethical challenges surrounding the design and conduct of such a study?

Presenter:
Ateev Mehrotra, MD, MPH
Associate Professor Health Care Policy and Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Hospitalist, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Reviewer:
Leslie Howes, MPH, CIP
Director, Office of Human Research Administration, Harvard Faculty of Medicine and Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health

Moderator:
Bizu Gelaye, PhD, MPH
Co-Director, Research Ethics, Harvard Center for Bioethics, Assistant Professor, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard Medical School and Division of Global Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital