Statewide Clinical Research Partnerships

Employment

1. Physicians within the SNC can be employed by U-M, the Regional Network (UM Health-Sparrow, UM Health-West, and their joint medical group), another health system (e.g., Trinity) or independently (i.e., private practice).
2. U-M-employed physicians who provide clinical care at SNC sites often do so under terms outlined in a Professional Services Agreement (PSA).
3. U-M-employed faculty, staff, and trainees (i.e., post-doctoral fellows, house officers, students) conducting research at SNC sites must act as agents of U-M (not of the SNC sites) and use U-M (not SNC) offices and systems to manage all aspects of the study. This is true even for U-M Principal Investigators (PIs) who provide clinical care at the SCN site under a PSA.
4. All research staff (e.g., clinical research coordinators) conducting study activities under a U-M-employed PI must be employed by U-M (not the SNC site). 

Approvals for Research

Approvals for research conducted at/with U-M do not automatically extend to SNC sites. No research activities may occur at/with any SNC sites until necessary approvals are obtained. This includes approvals for exactly who from the U-M study team is doing what research activities at/with the site.

All SNC sites are separate legal entities from the AMC and must be treated as such. For example, a study approved by a U-M IRB has not necessarily been IRB-approved to be conducted at a SNC site. 

1. IRB 
   All U-M research activities conducted at the SNC sites must be overseen by IRBMED, and IRBMED will be the IRB of record in most cases. Adding study activities at/with a SNC site will require changes to the study’s eResearch application. U-M Researchers must work with the IRBMED using this guidance to obtain necessary approvals.
2. External sponsor awards and contracts
   Adding U-M study activities at a SNC site may require changes to the study’s award or contract (if externally funded). Changes may include adding performance site(s) to the award and/or changing the class code to reflect the off-campus indirect cost rate. Engaging a SNC site as an independent performance site led by a non-U-M clinician will require subcontracts. SCRP will help study teams navigate when and which U-M offices to contact about this.

Access to SNC Patient Data

1. Use or disclose Protected Health Information (PHI) only after IRB approval.
2. Establish a Data Use Agreement (DUA) between U-M and the SNC site if the SNC site will be sharing identifiable information with U-M for research purposes. A DUA is needed even if U-M Researchers already have access to the UMHN site’s electronic health record (EHR) for clinical care purposes.
3. Care Everywhere (CE), an Epic EHR feature that allows clinical care providers to share a patient's health care record across health care systems for treatment and care coordination purposes, cannot be used to request or access outside records for research purposes unless this access directly supports research-related clinical care (e.g., tracking adverse events for patient safety). Using CE to obtain information solely for research without a clinical care component is prohibited. For specific study questions regarding using CE in research, reach out to the MiChart Research Team here (requires Level 2 login).

Personnel and Protocol Changes

It is the U-M study team’s responsibility to immediately email SCRP ([email protected]) regarding any planned changes to personnel or protocols that affect research activities at or with SNC sites. No such changes are allowed until approved by both the IRB of record (usually IRBMED) and the SNC site, except as necessary to eliminate apparent immediate hazards to research participants. Should the latter occur, you must email SCRP as soon as possible. 

Detailed guidance can be found in this Manual on Essentials for Conducting University of Michigan Research at or with Statewide Network of Care Sites (PDF)

"Conducting U-M Research with the Statewide Network of Care"
Presented on Jan 13th, 2026 to the Cardiovascular Center Clinical Research Group

The Foundations for Conducting U-M Research at or with Statewide Network of Care (SNC) Sites training helps U-M Researchers (U-M study team members from U-M Ann Arbor (including the Medical School), U-M Dearborn, and U-M Flint, including faculty, staff, students, house officers, and post-doctoral fellows) understand how research at or with Statewide Network of Care (SNC) sites, which includes UM Health-Sparrow and UM Health-West, as well as joint ventures and affiliates, is different from research at or with the Academic Medical Center. The training takes approximately 30 minutes and covers the key administrative and regulatory requirements as well as expectations that must be adhered to when conducting U-M human subjects research at or with an SNC site.

The training can be accessed in Cornerstone (course code: MCHR-00701).

No, this is not an approved use of this function by Epic. You must establish the necessary approvals prior to accessing network site EHR data for research.

No. Approval to access the EHR for clinical care does not automatically extend to research. Specific data use agreements for research may need to be established, regardless of whether or not a provider is credentialed. Epic’s “Rules of the Road” guidelines state that users may only access Care Everywhere (CE) to request and view patient information for the purpose of treatment and care coordination. Access for research is explicitly not allowed when the EHR data have not already been accessed for treatment and care coordination. Some research-related work DOES fit with this definition. An example of a scenario that falls within the Rules of the Road is when a study coordinator views CE documentation in an effort to confirm whether an outside encounter is impactful or related to the patient’s research treatment regimen.  

The Rules of Road specifically address that users should not be requesting outside documents for research recruitment, feasibility, or cohort development.  The Rules do not have any specifications or restrictions on how the data may be used after it has been retrieved for treatment or care coordination purposes. Information that was originally requested for the purpose of treatment or care coordination, once received, may be accessible to researchers. Specific questions regarding using CE in research should be sent to the MiChart Research Team here.

Credentialing can be helpful in regard to obtaining physical and EHR access at a network of care site, however, it is important to know that approvals to access the EHR and space for clinical care do not automatically extend to research. Appropriate approvals for such access for research purposes must be in place before any research activity can occur. Investigators can begin the process to obtain these approvals by submitting an intake form for the study to the SCRP team. SCRP will help the study team navigate the requirements that are needed for the requested access.

There is not a single answer to this question, as it depends on how the study team intends to identify and recruit eligible participants, and at which site they will be doing this. For example, the levels of approvals and workflows would differ depending on if recruitment is to be done via flyer vs. if the study team requires EHR access vs. if the study team is requesting EHR data reports to be pulled from the site so that participants can be identified. The sites also differ by their research approval processes. Questions about specific study scenarios can be sent to the SCRP team for guidance at [email protected]

There is not a single answer to this question, as it depends on the study, what the PI would like to do, if the study is externally sponsored, and at which site they are intending to work. Each scenario and site require different approvals and workflows. Some sample considerations for a study that includes in-person activities, however, would include the following:

1. Who will be conducting the research activities (i.e., Michigan Medicine PI, Michigan Medicine staff, or network site staff) and what will they be doing?

   a. If Michigan Medicine personnel do they already have space at the site, or would that need to be negotiated? Are they credentialed at the site?

   b. If help from network site personnel is needed, is there an adequate budget to pay them for this work?

   c. Would the site’s involvement rise to the level of being engaged (by the federal definition) in the research?

2. Will EHR access be needed?

   While UM Health-Sparrow, UM Health-West and Chelsea Hospital all use Epic, they are all on different instances (from each other and from Michigan Medicine). Also, at this time, view-only EHR access is the only type of access available to Michigan Medicine study teams in these other EHRs.

3. Is there funding for off-site activities?

   It is the responsibility of the investigator(s) to obtain necessary funding and to develop a budget when extending a study to the U-M Statewide Network of Care sites. 
   Some things to consider:

   a. Has the budget for off-site work been accounted for (i.e., is the off-campus indirect cost rate required for the project if it is externally funded)?

   b. Would the study team incur significant and unexpected costs for mileage to/from the site?

Inpatients at Chelsea Hospital are Chelsea Hospital patients with Chelsea Hospital Medical Record Numbers (MRNs).

No. There are several steps that must be taken to ensure that the appropriate regulatory and administrative approvals are in place before any U-M study activity can begin involving patients at Chelsea Hospital. Please reach out to the SCRP team through the U-M Health Statewide Network of Care Intake Form or submit general inquiries through email ([email protected]) as early as possible before you intend to start your study. In addition, it is very important to reach out early in grant planning to address budgeting and contracting issues that are specific to research at or with Chelsea Hospital.

No, this access is limited to view-only at this time. You may not enter orders in the Chelsea Hospital EHR. To be granted view-only EHR access, you will need to complete a series of steps.

Yes. Electronic communication with study participants who have already been recruited and enrolled in the study may continue during their admission to Chelsea Hospital. No in-person study activities, however, may be conducted during this time without necessary study-specific approvals with Chelsea Hospital.

No. Individuals requiring inpatient rehabilitation who are younger than age 18 years would receive care at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital.