Data Sharing

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Unlocking the potential of stored health data - safely and easily

Health information lets clinicians, managers, researchers and policy makers monitor and improve health care at both the individual and population level.  Many questions central to improving health services and patients’ outcomes can only be answered by using data from large, diverse populations.

To generate this kind of 'real-world' evidence in an efficient way, different digital technologies and analytical tools are being used to help streamline and enhance the collection, management and use of health data.  At the same time, significant attention is being given to ensuring appropriate safeguards are in place that protect the rights of patients whose information is being accessed and used.  This includes legislation, policy and guidance documents as well as technical solutions that protect access to health information.

Sydney Health Partners is supporting two initiatives to help make it easier to safely access and use health data for research.

  • The Data Sharing Accord is an agreement between our partner organisation about the principles and operational processes that should be considered when requests are made to use and use de-identified patient data for health research.
  • The HeSANDA program is a national program of work, led by the Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC) that aims to build national infrastructure to support the sharing and re-use of data collected through clinical trials to answer new research questions.