All fees and hourly rates increase annually on July 1 (estimated at ~3% per year). Charges below are for July 1, 2025-June 30, 2026. Investigators are billed monthly via work authorization. There is no annual general access fee for UPDB or additional fees for specific datasets. All charges are for services rendered as part of a request and are listed below.

IDEA and Director Consultation Meetings 

IDEA meetings are led by the UPDB Director/Associate Directors and include experienced regulatory staff. The meeting includes a brief presentation describing the resource and approval process. Investigators find out how UPDB can enrich their research program and explore potential study designs and aims. 

Director consultations involve deeper discussions with the UPDB Directors. This type of meeting is often used to support grant ideas and submissions.

To schedule an OD consultation, send an email to idea.updb@hci.utah.edu.

To schedule an IDEA Meeting, please submit the following form:

IDEA Meeting Request 

Cost: no charge
 

UPDB-L Self-Service Study Feasibility Tool 

UPDB-L is a free web tool for simple queries and deidentified summaries. It is available with simple registration and does not require IRB approval. Access to UPDB-L gives investigators the ability to identify sample sizes for their studies while preserving privacy and security of the data stored in UPDB.

To register, follow this link.

Cost: no charge

Pre-Research Requests

Complex feasibility summaries not satisfied by UPDB-L may use a pre-research request. These requests are performed by UPDB data engineers and biostatisticians to generate customized deidentified summaries. Pre-research requests do not require an IRB. UPDB manage communication with the RGE Director to gain approval. 

To request a pre-research service, use the UPDB Service Desk.

Cost: $160/hr (4 hr min) 

*At the discretion of UPDB, 12 hours may be forgiven for extramural grants that include a budget for UPDB and for which a valid grant mechanism and submission date can be provided.
 

Protocol Writing Services

UPDB provides expert support to develop protocols that wish to use UPDB data. Note: UPDB has no role in approvals. Approval of protocols is the purview of IRB/RGE. The protocol writing service includes working closely with the investigator to determine study design, detailed procedures and analysis plan, selection of UPDB data sources, and appropriate data storage locations. UPDB will write and create the protocol in the online ERICA system and support the investigator in ERICA submission. Investigators may request protocol writing services for new protocols, adding a UPDB component to an existing IRB protocol, or for amendments. 

To request protocol writing service, use the UPDB Service Desk.

Cost: $3,200 flat fee for new protocols
          $160/hr (4 hr min) for protocol amendments (incl. adding a UPDB component to an existing IRB)
 

UPDB Standard Requests

UPDB requests for data extraction, record linking, and analysis support (including geospatial) that include/access individual-level data require an approved IRB/RGE. These requests follow UPDB’s regular cost model composed of an upfront setup fee followed by hourly work. Costs are per request. 

To request a UPDB standard service, use the UPDB Service Desk.

Cost: $3,200 setup flat fee, plus $160/hr to complete work
          $640 setup flat fee, plus $160/hr to complete work, if request does not include data extraction
          [$160/hr (4 hr min) to re-open a closed request or amend an existing request]

*Setup fee is levied when a request is activated from the queue. Setup size is at the discretion of UPDB. No hourly work is charged during setup. Setup concludes when an investigator signs a statement of work (SOW), which includes a good faith budget. After setup, hourly work includes work performed by any UPDB staff member engaged with the request.

**Requests may be reopened or amended at the discretion of UPDB.