Gift Cards for Research Study Participants

Business units paying research participants with gift cards for research participant payments should have approval from Employee Travel & Reimbursement before purchasing the cards. Once the gift cards have been approved and purchased for study participants, units should clear the charges in Concur using a Non-Travel expense report using expense type 622500 – Experimental Subject/Blood Donors, following the steps outlined below. For approval of gift cards for research participants, contact ET&R.

Kristin Coombs
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Submitting Back-up Documentation

When submitting backup documentation: Any required backup documentation, including Protected Health Information(PHI) for research participant gift cards, must be submitted to ET&R. PHI includes the IRB Personal Data Disclosure Form or the Research Participant Verification Form. Units can securely submit documentation to ET&R using either of the following methods: - Save to your business unit's folder on the Protected Data Network. If your unit has no designated folder, please coordinate with ET&R directly. - Store via Strong Box – Please coordinate with ET&R directly. - Include any approved exceptions to collecting PHI with backup documentation.

Click [here](https://duke.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=f2129f46-cd74-42d5-9a22-b1bf01175d7e) to watch a 2-minute and 39-second video demonstrating how to pay research participants with gift cards.

From the **Expense** tab, select **Add Expense**.

Select the appropriate corporate card transaction from the **Available\ Expenses** list or select the **Create New Expense** tab and select the **622500 – Exp Subject/Blood Donors** expense type or search for it using the search field.

Gift cards purchased for research participants contain PHI (Protected Health Information). Therefore, only include the items listed in the following steps.

In the **Expense Details**, provide the required information as outlined below in a-h: a. The transaction date is pre-populated for corporate card charges.\ b. Provide the business purpose supporting the gift card purchase.\ c. The vendor name is pre-populated for corporate card charges.\ d. Provide the city of purchase. This field is not required but may be pre-populated for corporate card charges.\ e. Provide the approved protocol number. Contact your Grant Administrator or PI for the study to obtain the approved protocol number.\ f. The payment type is a corporate card and is the preferred payment type for 622500.\ g. The amount pre-populates for corporate card charges.\ h. The currency pre-populates for corporate card charges.

**Expense Details** continued. Provide the required information as outlined below in i-k: i. Confirm you have sent the appropriate recipient information to ET&R or stored it on the protected data network.\ j. Provide the location of the backup documentation in the comments. The folder name is required if stored on the protected data network. Include the Report Key (found in the Report Header section of your expense report) in the file name. Also, include the total number of gift cards purchased.\ k. Upload the receipt supporting the expense or select from the **Available Expenses**.

You **MUST** check the **Recipient Documentation sent to ET&R** box to process the expense report.

Once you've entered all information and attached the receipt supporting the expense, select **Save Expense**.

Review the exception messages and continue processing the expense report.

Additional Information and Links

- Expense reports with E-Gift card purchases should include the purchase receipt. Redact screen captures or other verification showing the recipient's email address if included in the expense report. The email verification (with the participant's email address visible) should be included as part of the backup documentation when storing it on the Protected Data Network or Strong Box folder. - Duke's Office of Information Technology (OIT) and the University's IT Security Office (ITSO) established the Protected Data Network as a resource for storing and analyzing sensitive research data. The network is separated virtually from the general Duke network and has more extensive security protections and limited access. For information on obtaining a Protected Data Network folder for your unit, contact ET&R. - For additional guidance on Protected Health Information (PHI), review these links: - [HIPPA](https://research.duke.edu/campusirb/) - [Duke HR Protected Health Information](https://hr.duke.edu/policies/protected-health-information/) - For additional guidance on Processing Payments to Research Participants, please review GAP 200.420 <https://finance.duke.edu/accounting/gap/m200-420>.

Visit [concur.duke.edu/training](http://concur.duke.edu/training) for a library of Quick Reference Guides and other\ resources.