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Abstract
Introduction. The Privacy Rule, a follow-up to the Health Insurance Portability andAccountability Act, limits distribution of protected health information. Compliance with the Privacy Rule is particularly challenging for prehospital research, because investigators often seek data from multiple emergency medical services (EMS) andreceiving hospitals. Objective. To describe the impact of the Privacy Rule on prehospital research andto present strategies to optimize data collection in compliance with the Privacy Rule. Methods. The CanAm Pediatric Cardiopulmonary Arrest Study Group has previously conducted a multicentered observational study involving children with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. In the current study, we used a survey to assess site-specific methods of compliance with the Privacy Rule andthe extent to which such strategies were successful. Results. The previously conducted observational study included collection of data from a total of 66 EMS agencies (range of 1–37 per site). Data collection from EMS providers was complicated by the lack of a systematic approval mechanism for the research use of EMS records andby incomplete resuscitation records. Agencies approached for approval to release EMS data for study purposes included Department of Health Institutional Review Boards, Fire Commissioners, andCommissioners of Health. The observational study included collection of data from a total of 164 receiving hospitals (range of 1–63 per site). Data collection from receiving hospitals was complicated by the varying requirements of receiving hospitals for the release of patient survival data. Conclusions. Obtaining complete EMS andhospital data is challenging but is vital to the conduct of prehospital research. Obtaining approval from city or state level IRBs or Privacy Boards may help optimize data collection. Uniformity of methods to adhere to regulatory requirements would ease the conduct of prehospital research.