PopData or HDPBC stream?

All academic projects requesting BC Ministry of Health data and other data sets available on the Health Data Platform BC (HDPBC) will go through the HDPBC stream, provided that certain criteria are met. Projects that do not meet these criteria will follow the Population Data BC (PopData) stream.

Qualifying criteria for an HDPBC project

 

The data sets required (health, health services, social and demographic) are all available on the platform

Note: You may also import your own Researcher-collected data and externally managed data sets if approved by the data provider.

 

Linkage to the following is NOT required:

  • Federal data
  • Cross-Ministry data
  • Data exclusively available through PopData 
The analytical tools required are available in the HDPBC Secure Environment

 

HDPBC and PopData projects follow the same data access request process, and the PopData Data Access Unit team support Researchers throughout the process. The main differences between the two streams are how the Data Access Request is reviewed/adjudicated, how data is provisioned and the secure environment for data analysis.

Differences

HDPBC projects

PopData projects

How are DARs reviewed/adjudicated?

For requests requiring access to data governed by multiple health organizations - a single review is conducted by the Health Data Council (comprising of members from participating health organizations).

Requests requiring access to Health Information Banks or Pharma data will require additional review and approval by the Data Stewardship Committee under the eHealth Act.

For requests requiring access to data governed by multiple health organizations – a review is conducted by each Data Steward governing the data set requested.

Requests requiring access to Health Information Banks or Pharma data will require additional review and approval by the Data Stewardship Committee under the eHealth Act.

Where are data provisioned?

The HDPBC Secure Environment (SE)

A cloud-based secure environment accessible via two-factor authentication using Microsoft authenticator app, with expandable storage capacity.

  • Default compute of 16GB RAM with ability to increase as needed. 
  • Ability to import public git URLs 

For more information, go to: the HDPBC website

The PopData Secure Research Environment (SRE)

A secure private cloud accessible only via an encrypted Virtual Private Network (VPN) through a firewall and use of a YubiKey® for two-factor authentication. 

For more information, go to: the Secure Research Environment  

How are data provisioned?

Access to relational database in a secure environment

  • Views to pre-loaded data reducing the need for additional data loading
  • Ability for analysts to create their own cohort or evolve their analysis cohort using all approved data sets 
  • Request support to build cohorts via code examples from within the secure environment

Access to flat ASCII files in a secure environment

  • Option to request a custom cohort
  • For Core extracts, the ability for analysts to to create their own cohort
What analytical tools are available?

Includes: SQL, SAS, Python, R & Rtools, Data Bricks

For a complete list of the tools and utilities available, go to: Data access and click on What tools are available in each stream for statistical analysis?

Includes: SAS, Python, R & Rtools, SPSS 

For a complete list of the tools and utilities available, go to: Data access and click on What tools are available in each stream for statistical analysis?

 

DARs/Projects snapshot

Total number of DARs/Projects currently with PopData:437

 

 

Last revised October 2nd, 2024

Tools and resources

We provide a range of tools and resources for researchers for use at different stages of the data access process.

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Need pan-Canadian data?

The Data Access Support Hub (DASH) is a one-stop data access service portal for researchers requiring multi-jurisdictional data in Canada.

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