Guidelines for Conducting Collaborative Research with the UPMC Insurance Services Division
The UPMC Center for High-Value Health Care (CHVHC) is a nonprofit research organization owned and operated by UPMC and housed within the UPMC Insurance Services Division (ISD). The CHVHC’s mission is to advance U.S. health care policy and practice through the development and dissemination of innovative service delivery and payment models that support value-driven and equitable healthcare. (See also Mission and Vision.)
Our mission is achieved, in part, through collaborative research activities focused on ISD research priority areas. Refer to the CHVHC website for a list of priorities and consult with the CHVHC team regarding any updates or questions. Guidelines for all external entities seeking to conduct externally funded and other collaborative research studies with business units of the ISD are summarized below.
Requests for Research Collaboration
The following steps should be followed for all requests for formal research collaboration.
- Early engagement with the CHVHC in ideation and planning for potential research projects.
- Submission of a completed Request for Research Collaboration form to the CHVHC. This form includes important information needed to adequately review and consider the request and can be obtained from the CHVHC team after an initial discussion about your request. Early partnership conversations with CHVHC team members and ISD leadership can inform the completion of this required request form.
- Requests are reviewed on an ongoing basis, first by the CHVHC, and subsequently by the ISD Research and Quality Improvement Committee (RQIC). Projects that do not meet our primary criteria of 1) targeting at least one ISD population of interest and/or at least one ISD business priority, and 2) involving CHVHC and/or ISD team members from initial project planning will not be eligible for review by RQIC. Projects meeting these criteria and presented to RQIC will be considered based on relevance to UPMC ISD mission and goals, proposed role of the CHVHC/ISD in the research, legal/regulatory/financial considerations, and soundness/feasibility/sustainability of the proposed approach.
- Please note that the populations of interest list is not exhaustive, and proposals that do not target these groups, but have the potential to impact business priorities, may be considered.
- Following RQIC review, CHVHC will share decisions and recommendations with collaborators and assist with completion of next steps as appropriate.
Proposal Development
· CHVHC team members will work directly with collaborating researchers to develop a scope of work and budget for the research project.
· CHVHC/ISD team members and/or leadership participating as investigators on the study may contribute to other aspects of proposal development (e.g., scientific content, data collection/analytics, etc.).
· The typical amount of time needed to collaborate on a proposal submission, obtain RQIC and legal review/approval, and gather all the necessary subcontract materials and signatures is up to 8 weeks, underscoring the importance of early engagement with the CHVHC.
Conduct of Research
Upon the receipt of an award and/or initiation of the study, the CHVHC will work to formalize the research collaboration as proposed, including facilitating contractual arrangements with the ISD Legal Department, developing necessary data use agreements (DUAs), ensuring adherence to HIPAA-compliant procedures, etc. CHVHC will further work with researchers to develop a communication and reporting plan which may include collecting data on the project’s implementation, outcomes, and impact; conducting a post-completion assessment on the collaboration’s successes and areas that need improvement; and tracking subsequent changes to policies and practices, as well as any publications and presentations that result from the research.
Research-related Activities Not Supported by the ISD/CHVHC
ISD will not provide identifying information of Health Plan members for recruitment purposes.
Letters of Support
Letters of support may be obtained without a formal research collaboration request or RQIC approval. These letters are designed to express general endorsement of a research proposal without specifying resource or other commitments. Letters are typically signed by the UPMC ISD Chief Medical Officer or the UPMC ISD Chief Research and Translation Officer.
Research Publications
CHVHC/ISD project team members should be offered an opportunity to contribute as co-authors on collaborative research publications. All final drafts must be vetted through the ISD publication review process prior to submission. CHVHC and ISD reserve the right to be acknowledged (or not) as specified in the contract/agreement.
For more information, please contact:
Gina Snyder
Project Manager
snyderg2@upmc.edu
Jane Kogan, PhD
Associate Chief Research & Translation Officer
koganjn@upmc.edu