HIPAA for BU Researchers

BU has updated HIPAA policies and resources for researchers, and you need to know about them!

Whether HIPAA applies to human subjects research can be a thorny issue with big consequences.  We’ve created some resources to make this area easier for researchers to manage– so you have more time to focus on your research.

Here are a few quick ways to get the information you need:

1. Click on http://www.bu.edu/researchsupport/compliance/human-subjects/hipaa/ for a quick guide to HIPAA and Research. Here you’ll find a summary of how to access HIPAA data for research; how you need to protect it during and after research; and how to report a breach.
2. A newly updated training module, HIPAA and Data Security for Researchers, is available on the CITI platform.
   • https://www.bumc.bu.edu/ohra/required-training/human-subjects-protection-training/initial-certification/instructions-for-taking-bumc-citi-courses-for-initial-training/
   • https://www.bu.edu/researchsupport/compliance/human-subjects/human-subjects-training/
3. BU’s updated HIPAA policy on Research is found at http://www.bu.edu/policies/information-security-home/hipaa_toc/hipaa-authorizations/ See Section 5.5.
4. And here are some recent recent live training slides with links to resources:
   • CRC IRB HIPAA and Data Security Training
   • BMC BUMC HIPAA and Data Security Training
   • GSDM Research HIPAA and Data Security Training