Simplifying the language in our HIPAA research authorization template has been on the IRB’s to-do list for, oh, about 15 or so years now. We’re happy to report that, thanks to both a nudge from and the assistance of the UAMS Center for Health Literacy, we have a brand new, much more reader-friendly HIPAA authorization template on the IRB’s website. Please use this revised version from now on.
The new form reads at just under a grade 7 reading level, well within our preferred range of grade 4 to 8. We’re not quite sure what the reading level of the previous version was; we do know that it was heavy on the legalese, though, and a lot more complicated than some of the consent forms we’ve seen.
Questions? Comments? Notice a typo in the new HIPAA authorization form? Let the IRB know at irb@uams.edu.