Limited Data Request Instructions

Hospitals and Local Health Departments#

Step 1 – Register/Login HCAI Data Request Portal#

Register an account on HCAI’s Data Request Portal. You will find the ‘Register’ and ‘Login’ links at the top of the page. You will find a useful help document for the portal here.

Select Organization Type ‘Hospital’ or ‘Local Health Department.’ You will be able to select your hospital or county from the drop-down menu.

Step 2 – Submit Request#

Log in to the Data Request Portal to complete the Limited Data Request form.

• If your hospital or local health department is using an outside contractor(s), you will need to attach a current Business Associate Agreement, between the hospital or health department and each contractor.
• If your hospital is an Affiliated Covered Entity (ACE) you will need to attach the organizational chart for your facility

Step 3 – HCAI Analyst Review#

An analyst will review the completed request and contact you through the request portal if any corrections or clarifications are needed.

Step 4 – Required Documents#

Once the request passes the analyst’s initial review, they will provide a copy of the Request Form and Data Use Agreement (DUA) for you to obtain signatures. The CEO will need to initial several statements on the Request Form, along with their signature.

Please note: HCAI has instituted changes to the required DUA. These changes include an item restricting the requesting entity to maintain no more than ten years of HCAI data. HCAI is requiring every Limited Data Requestor to provide one of the following letters to receive their data:

• Letter of Confirmation, confirming the facility does not currently have access to more than 10 years of HCAI data
• Letter of Destruction, confirming the facility has destroyed any data that would surpass the 10-year restriction
• Letter of Extension, requesting an extension to maintain more than 10 years of data for the utilization of the 2021 data.

The provided letter should be on official letterhead, signed by the CEO or Health Officer, and include the years and datasets of HCAI data that your facility currently maintains.

HCAI is accepting Data Extension Requests through 2023 to allow for the completion of in-progress analysis. After 2023, Data Extension Requests will no longer be considered for approval.

Step 5 – Submit Signatures and Letter#

The signed Request Form, DUA, and appropriate Letter should be uploaded to the online portal as individual PDFs. 

• No changes may be made to the Request Form or DUA before returning them for signatures. A request without a signed DUA or a DUA that is signed but has been altered will not be approved.
• Hospitals: The CEO, or equivalent, needs to sign the data request form and DUA.
• Local Health Departments: The Health Officer must sign the data request form and DUA.
• The Delegation Order OSH-ISD-520 may be signed by the Hospital CEO, Health Officer, or equivalent to allow the designated delegate to sign the form on behalf of the Local Health Department.

Step 6 – HCAI Management Review#

HCAI management will review the signed documents and request package. If they have any questions, the assigned analyst will reach out for clarification through the request portal.

Step 7 – Request Approved – Data Delivery#

Once cleared for data release by management, HCAI will contact the listed Designated Point of Contact on the request form to arrange data delivery. Data is sent as Encrypted Files delivered via secure file transfer protocol. You can find instructions here. 

The assigned analyst will send the encrypted file and confirm through the portal. Once you have successfully downloaded your data, you can mark your data received in the portal to be sent the password to your encrypted files.