Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services

A research study using City data requires a Data License Agreement (DLA) from the Law Department if any of the following apply:

• The principal investigator or co-principal investigator (applicant) works at a non-City entity.
• The principal investigator or co-principal investigator (applicant) will share City data with any non-City entity.
• The principal investigator or co-principal investigator (applicant) intends to publish the results of the study.

The Law Department must approve all DLAs. Applicants should submit a request through the City’s privacy review portal. For questions about the process, contact HIPAAprivacy@phila.gov. Applicants should be prepared to provide an application to use City data for research and the documents listed below:

• Their IRB application materials.
• The IRB’s approval or waiver letter.
• A list of all data points or variables sought.
• A narrative description of the study (if not included with the IRB application materials).
• A letter of support from all City departments contributing data.
• Any state- or federal-level approvals, if necessary.

DBHIDS will provide data to the non-City principal investigator when the DLA is fully executed. For publication or public presentation of research findings, the DLA requires that you provide your final manuscript or presentation to DBHIDS. For these two processes, DBHIDS have a centralized request system. Click here for more information.