NIOSH Participant Portal

Goal:
To electronically deliver personal exposure and medical information to National Institue for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) study participants (workers) in a secure and easy-to-use manner.

Summary:
The NIOSH Participant Portal (NPP) consists of two web-based apps, an admin portal and public portal. The admin portal enables NIOSH project officers to enter Health Hazard Evaluations (HHE) into the NPP system manually or by directly importing them from a MS Word document. When the results are ready for viewing, NIOSH project officers send a notification email to the participants granting them access to the public portal. Project officers can see if participants have viewed their results.

The public portal allows participants to access the system without a password, eliminating the need to register and remember one. Upon receiving a notification email that their results are available, participants are then directed to access the NIOSH Participant Portal and validate their email address. Once verified, a second email is sent to the participant with a secure, onetime link to view and download their results. Ultimately, the NPP makes it easier for workers to share information with their healthcare providers. Sharing study participant results (containing PII) securely is a challenge for CDC scientists; this solution could serve as a better model.