Contact Information

Organization

Announcements and Bulletins

THE COMMITTEE ON HUMAN RESEARCH

HIPAA AND HUMAN RESEARCH

• Background
• HIPAA Guidance
• HIPAA Definitions
• HIPAA Authorization Forms and Other Forms
  • UCSF Forms
  • SF VAMC Forms
  
  
  
• Authorizations to Be Used at Other Hospitals or Institutions
• HIPAA Research Training
• Other HIPAA Links
• Questions
  

Background

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), also known as “The Privacy Rule,” set new standards and regulations to protect patients from inappropriate disclosures of their “protected health information” (PHI) that could cause harm to their insurability, employability and/or their privacy. PHI is information that can be used to identify an individual which is created, used, or disclosed in the course of providing a health care service, such as diagnosis or treatment. HIPAA does allow for researchers to access and use PHI when necessary to conduct research. The Committee for Human Research will act as the HIPAA-required Privacy Board to review the use/disclosure of PHI for research.

Effective Compliance Date: As of April 14, 2003, all human subjects research must be in compliance with the Privacy Rule.

	HIPAA Guidance
	•	UCSF Privacy Office
		•	UCSF HIPAA Policies and Procedures
	•	Data Security
	•	UCSF CHR HIPAA Decision Tree
	•	One-Page Guide to HIPAA
	•	PHI: List of 18 Identifiers and Definition of PHI
	•	Authorization: Required Elements
	•	Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
	•	Email and Fax Restrictions for Using PHI
	•	Abbreviated Recruitment Guidelines
	•	HIPAA Consent Form Guidance
		•	Standard Consent Forms Formats and Samples
	•	Definitions
	HIPAA Forms
		UCSF Forms
	•	UCSF Subject Authorization for Release of PHI for Research
		The UCSF authorization form is available in many different languages. If the language you need is not listed, download the English version and follow these instructions. Click here for more info on obtaining consent and authorization from non-English speakers. English Polish Arabic Portuguese - Brazilian Armenian - Eastern Portuguese - Continential Armenian -Western Romanian Burmese Russian Chinese Spanish Farsi Tagalog Hindi Turkish Korean Urdu Japanese Vietnamese
	•	Cancellation of Permission to Use Personal Health Information for Research
	•	Data Use Agreement
		SF VAMC Forms
	•	SF VAMC Authorization for Release of PHI for Research
	•	SF VAMC Revocation of Authorization for Release of PHI
		Note: You do not need to submit the authorization form(s) in iMedRIS. The CHR Application in iMedRIS includes questions to determine whether HIPAA authorization is needed, or if a waiver of authorization can be granted for the entire study or for recruitment purposes only. Review your approval letter to determine whether or not subjects must sign a HIPAA authorization form.
Authorizations to Be Used at Other Hospitals or Institutions Other hospitals, medical centers, institutions or clinics will likely have their own versions of the Subject Authorization for access to their own medical records. For example, Kaiser and CPMC and Stanford have their own forms. Those forms will have to be used at their sites, just as the UCSF form must be used at UCSF and the VAMC form must be used at the VAMC.
	HIPAA Research Training (Revised February 2004)
	Other HIPAA Links

Questions

HIPAA Questions: Call the CHR Front Desk at 415-476-1814 and your questions will be answered or your call will be redirected appropriately. You can also contact us.