The Duke University Health System (DUHS) has revised language in the Notice of Privacy Practices (NPP) Brochure. The go-live date for the updated brochure has been postponed to March 1st. The updated Research section of the NPP notifies patients that Duke “may contact you to invite you to participate in certain research activities. If you do not wish to be contacted for research purposes, please contact Duke’s Research Navigators at (919) 660-9172 or myresearchnavigators@duke.edu. We will use reasonable efforts to prevent this research-related outreach. This will not apply to the use of your health information for research purposes as described above and will not prevent your providers from discussing research with you.”
To align with the revised NPP, the Recruitment and Engagement Policy is scheduled to be posted March 1st. The policy will be rolled out in phases to CRUs during the months of March and April. This policy will allow study teams to engage patients through contacts including, but not limited to portal messages, mobile health devices, telephone, electronic surveys at clinic visits or hospital admissions, or directly via one or more clinicians. Any of these methods may be used to engage patients in research related to their health, if approved by the DUHS Institutional Review Board (IRB). The DUHS IRB will, in its review, consider the appropriateness of the recruitment methods in regard to the target population and the research objectives.
Training on the new policy is required prior to the IRB approving updated recruitment plans utilizing these expanded recruitment options.
The Duke Office of Clinical Research will work with CRU Leadership during the phased roll-out to provide training to interested study teams.
A support page has been developed to assist the community.