All data management procedures for the Provider Insights on Transgender Healthcare survey (“Project”) will be conducted in a manner consistent with Whitman-Walker Institute’s (“Institute”) internal policies and procedures, which are compliant with regulations set forth by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)–specifically HIPAA and 45 CFR 46 Subpart A, also known as the Common Rule. HHS privacy and security rules will be applied and followed throughout the project, and multiple protections will be put in place to ensure respondent confidentiality, as detailed below.

1. Qualtrics will be used to collect project data. The survey will be distributed using anonymous links, which do not collect identifying information. Responses will be anonymized so that IP address and location data are not collected.
2. Survey respondents will be instructed to exclude identifying information in their responses before conducting the survey. The survey does not request any protected health information.
3. Respondents will be assigned a unique non-identifying respondent ID before analysis is performed.
4. After the data collection period has ended, all project data will be exported from Qualtrics and stored on the Institute’s secure internal server. The Institute’s internal server adheres to standards and requirements to meet the HIPAA Security Rule, ensuring the confidentiality, integrity, and security of information.
5. After project data has been stored on the Institute’s internal server, all data will be permanently deleted from Qualtrics.
6. Only designated project staff will have access to project data. Designated staff will be thoroughly trained in confidentiality and data security procedures before accessing survey data.
7. Access to project data will be limited to minimum required staff members.
8. Data analysis will occur 60 days after the data collection period has ended and be performed in a two-week period.
9. Participant-level data will be stored for retention purposes for six months after the end of the project and then permanently deleted. Aggregate-level data will be stored indefinitely.