Brooks, John M.
Chapman, Cole G.
Floyd, Sarah B.
Chen, Brian K.
Thigpen, Charles A.
Kissenberth, Michael
Funding for this research was provided by:
University of South Carolina Big Data Health Science Center
Article History
Received: 2 January 2022
Accepted: 20 June 2022
First Online: 11 July 2022
Declarations
:
: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) provided permission to access the raw data in this given approval by the University of South Carolina Institutional Review Board (IRB). This study was designated “exempt” the University of South Carolina Institutional Review Board under Category 4 of 45 CFR 46.101(2)(b) because it was based on existing deidentified secondary data. “Exempt” human subjects research has no risk or minimal risk to subjects and is exempt from most requirements of the <i>Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects</i>, but is still designated as research requiring an IRB review. Data provided by CMS were encrypted or “anonymized” prior to receipt by study researchers. As such, information in the data was recorded in such a manner that subjects cannot be identified, directly or through identifiers linked to the subjects. No consent to participate is required for this exempted research. All methods were performed in accordance with the relevant guidelines for secondary data analyses, including the guidelines under STROBE (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology).
: Not Applicable.
: The authors declare no competing interests.