The Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA) sets out rules for the collection, use and disclosure of personal health information. These rules will apply to all health information custodians operating within the province of Ontario and to individuals and organizations that receive personal health information from health information custodians. RVH takes the privacy of our patients very seriously so the Privacy Office is conducting regular audits of our electronic health information systems and its users. Audit findings are reviewed and if there are privacy breach concerns, those are addressed in consultation with Human Resources and the Chief of Staff.

All researchers collecting or using information collected from RVH must abide by PHIPA guidelines and conduct their research only in manners approved by a Research Ethics Board.

For more information, please see the Personal Health Information Protection Act, and in particular note the guidelines in Sections 4, 17, 44, and 45.

Conflicts of interest may occur in the conduct of research programs for a variety of reasons. It is the responsibility of the researcher to declare all conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise. Furthermore, the research must take steps to effectively manage the COI to ensure that participant rights and welfare are not affected.

Conflicts of interest are addressed in RVH REB applications. Please contact the Research Office or Research Ethics Board for further questions and/or guidance.

The Tri-Agency Research Integrity Policy is a joint policy of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) to promote and assist research and foster a positive research environment. At minimum, researchers are responsible for academic rigour, record keeping, accurate referencing, conflict of interest management, authorship, and proper acknowledgement.

Investigators at RVH or those using RVH data have the responsibility to ensure that all research and scholarship: is informed by the principles of honesty, integrity, trust and accountability, meets high scientific and ethical standards, is conducted with honest and thoughtful inquiry, and seeks to increase knowledge in ways which benefit society without causing harm to the involved subjects. Researchers must not fabricate or falsify data, or include plagiarisms in their work

Violations of research integrity include abuse of confidentiality, dishonesty in publication, property violations failure to report observed research misconduct,  and directing or encouraging others to engage in research misconduct.

For further information, please access the Tri-Agency Research Integrity Policy or contact the RVH Research Office.

The RVH Research Institute provides a range of guidance about contract services (e.g. Clinical Trial Agreements, Collaboration Agreements, Confidentiality/Non-Disclosure Agreements, Data Sharing/Transfer Agreements, Research Funding Agreements)

A contract or research agreement is required if:

• resources or funds will be received by or provided to sources external to the Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH).
• any information (i.e., data including video and audio, personal health information) or biological materials (e.g., blood, other bodily fluids, and/or tissues) will be sent to an external site.
• any research materials, including but not limited to animals and/or animal samples will be sent outside of St. Michael’s Hospital where it was collected and/or will be received by RVH.
• any researcher or external party wishes to conduct clinical trials at RVH.

The Research Office will review, negotiate, and finalize all research contracts prior to authorization and signature. The review process addresses issues such as indemnification, publication rights, patient safety, budgets, privacy, and conflicts of interest.

All information relating to potential clinical studies require a Clinical Study Agreement.

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