Joining the Rhythm Research Participant Registry
You are being asked to be in a research study. Your participation in this study is voluntary. You may decide not to participate, or you may leave the study at any time. Your decision will not result in any penalty or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled.
If you have questions, concerns, or complaints, or think this research has hurt you or made you sick, talk to the research team at the phone number listed above.
The short version: Rhythm maintains a list of volunteer adults that are interested in hearing about or joining future sleep research. Joining is free and voluntary, and is not enrolling for any kind of medical care or research study. You can leave at any time. Joining does not guarantee future study participation.
What is this registry?
The purpose of the Rhythm Research Participant Registry is to maintain a list of adults who want to hear about future research studies about sleep, sleep apnea, and PAP (positive airway pressure) therapy. It is run by AccessOS, Inc., the company that does business as Rhythm. Joining is a way to hear about research. It is not a research study itself.
This registry is not medical care.
If you decide to take part in this registry, the general procedures include completing an online questionnaire and potentially receiving a monthly email inviting you to a specific future study.
We expect that your participation will last until you choose to leave or the registry is closed.
This registry is not medical care. No one will review your questionnaire answers to give you medical advice or a diagnosis. If you have questions or concerns about your sleep or health, talk to your doctor. If you ever have a medical emergency, call 911. Joining does not give you access to any product, and being invited to a study does not mean a product or treatment is right for you.
Who can join?
You must be 18 or older and live in the United States. You must be able to read and understand English, make your own decision about joining, and complete this form for yourself. You must have been told you have sleep apnea, have used PAP therapy, suspect you have sleep apnea, or experience symptoms consistent with sleep apnea. You must not currently be incarcerated or be a Rhythm employee, contractor, or member of their household.
What will we ask you?
We will ask for your first name, last name, email address, and birth year. You can also share your phone number, ZIP code, and sex. We will ask whether you have been tested for sleep apnea and, if so, your AHI and RDI results if you know them. We will ask which sleep-related symptoms you have ever experienced and whether you currently use a CPAP or APAP device, previously used one, or have never used one.
Phone number, ZIP code, sex, test results, and symptoms are optional. We will not ask for medical records, sleep-test reports, or any documents, and we will never ask for a Social Security number, insurance, or payment information. Answering takes about 3 minutes.
What will we do with your information?
We use your information for only two things:
to tell you about research studies you may be able to join
to plan those studies, using overall counts that do not identify anyone
Who can see it?
A small Rhythm registry team. The trusted service providers who run our secure systems process it for us under confidentiality agreements. The independent ethics board (IRB) that oversees this registry, or government regulators, such as the Department of Health and Human Services may review records to confirm we are following the rules. No one else.
What will we never do?
We will never sell your information. We will never give your information to another company. We will never use your answers about your health for advertising. If our research partners help run a study, they still never receive this list. We contact you, and you decide.
How often will we contact you?
We will contact you by email. You will get no more than one study invitation per month. You never have to reply. Ignoring an invitation has no consequences of any kind.
What happens if a study interests you?
Your information stays with us until you tell us you’re interested in a study. If a study interests you, you will get full details and a separate consent form before anything else happens. Saying yes to this registry is never saying yes to a study. If you do join a study, the study team tells us only that you joined, so we don’t keep re-inviting you.
Risks and benefits.
The main risk is to your privacy: this list shows that you may have, or think you may have, sleep apnea. We protect it with encryption and strict access limits, but no system is perfect. There is no direct benefit to you from joining. Your participation may help future research happen faster. Joining is completely voluntary. You can say no now or leave later, and nothing changes for you either way.
Payment
You will not be paid for being in this study.
How do you leave? What are your other choices?
Your alternative is to not participate in this study. You can leave at any time: click the link in any message, or email us. No login, no form, no questions. You can pause messages, leave the registry, or leave and ask us to delete your information. If you ask us to delete your information, we will delete what we can. We keep only two small things:
a “do not contact” record, so we never contact you again
the record that you consented and later withdrew
We will act on your request within ten business days. You can also ask us at any time for a copy of the information we have about you, or ask us to correct it.
How long do we keep your information?
We keep your information while the registry is open. If we can’t confirm you’re still interested for three years in a row, we will remove your information.
What if our company changes?
If our company is ever sold or merged, your information may go to the new owner only if they agree in writing to follow these same rules and this same consent. Otherwise, it will be deleted.
Questions?
About the registry: (312) 667-3108 or research@rhythmpap.com. If you have questions, concerns, or complaints about the study or questions about your rights as a research participant: contact WCG at 855-818-2289 or clientcare@wcgclinical.com.
Subject information collected as part of the research, even if identifiers are removed, will not be used or distributed for future research studies.
Optional choices
Both boxes below are optional and unchecked. Your answers here do not affect joining the registry.
Yes, the Rhythm Research Participant Registry may text and call me about research at the number I provided, including using automated technology. Agreeing is not a condition of joining the registry.
Company news (separate from research). Rhythm may email me company news and product updates. This is optional and does not affect the registry or study invitations. Only my name and email will be used for this, never my answers about my health. I can stop these emails at any time without leaving the registry.
Your agreement
I am 18 or older, I live in the United States, and I agree to join the Rhythm Research Participant Registry as described above.