Getting help from healthcare providers for specimen collection

 
Now that you have enrolled in the study, you will soon receive a sample collection kit in the mail. You will need to take this kit to a trained medical professional so that he or she can draw a small sample of your blood such that we can test it for evidence of previous influenza virus infection. We have learned from other study participants how and where you can get this sample collected.

1) Consider asking your family member or friends if they know someone working in the medical community who can help you obtain a blood specimen for research purposes.

2) If you have a family member or friend who is a nurse or doctor, ask them to collect the tube of blood for you.

3) Visit a free medical clinic and ask if they can collect a blood sample from you for this research study. A list of national free clinics can be found here http://freemedicalcamps.com/index.php

4) Inform this professional or your healthcare provider that you are involved in a research study, and that you need to provide a blood sample for the project. Ask them if they are willing to assist with the blood draw. Stress the point that you only need one, small 10 mililiter tube of blood drawn, and no additional workup. You can tell them that you have a study kit with the supplies and instructions, and that the study will compensate them $20 if they do not bill you directly. If they bill you directly, then you the participant will receive the $20 compensation.

5) If they say they need an NPI or a U-pin number, tell them we do not have such numbers as this is a National Institutes of Health sponsored research study. Tell them study coordinator Dwight Ferguson can answer their questions, tel (319) 335-4983.