External data usage applications

Instructions for applying for UMG internal research data


1. Contacting the Transfer office of the Data Integration Centre (DIC)

  • Contact person: Matthias Scheuch (E-Mail: matthias.scheuch@med.uni-greifswald.de)
  • Arranging a Zoom appointment to...
    • Describe the data application process
    • Presentation of the project by the applicant
    • Specification of the cohort
    • Selection of necessary data items
    • Possible data formats

2. Ethics application/amendment

  • Formulation of the ethics application or, if already available, amendments to the research question by the applicant.
  • When applying for research data in accordance with the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern State Hospital Act (LKHG-MV) § 51, a passage on ‘public interest’ is mandatory in the ethics application.
  • For further information, see the Ethics Commission of the Greifswald University Medicine (UMG).

3. Review of ethical and data protection aspects

  • Submission of the ethics application to the applicant's local ethics committee
  • Note: Due to time and resource constraints, the UMG Ethics Committee only reviews the ‘public interest’ and therefore requires a positive vote on the application from a local ethics committee.

4. Determining public interest

  • In the case of research data publications in accordance with LKHG-MV § 51, the ‘public interest’ must be determined by the UMG Ethics Committee.
  • Meeting dates of the Ethics Committee

5. Forwarding of all documents to the DIC Transfer office

  • Applicants must submit...
    • Ethics application
    • Positive vote by the applicant's local ethics committee
    • Positive vote by the UMG ethics committee on ‘public interest’
    • Upon request: Proof of the directory of processing activities, data protection impact assessment by the researcher's responsible data protection officer

6. Contract conclusion

  • Signing of the cooperation agreement by all parties and sending of the complete documents to all parties involved

7. Export data set

  • DIC generates export data set
  • Checking for possible contradictions
  • Output format as previously agreed

8. Data provision

  • Provision of data via Cryptshare and notification to retrieve data
  • Further data releases within the scope of the same project can be made by prior arrangement

9. Documentation and archiving

  • Archiving and documentation of data release in accordance with LKHG-MV § 51 on the DIC website


FAQs

In what format is the data provided?

-> We currently provide the data as an Excel/CSV file. A database file (.db) is also possible.

Are images also provided?

-> No, images are currently not provided. The process of exporting images in a manner that complies with data protection regulations is currently in development for specific projects.

Can ICD-10 and OPS codes be provided for a specific case and time period?

-> Yes, diagnoses and procedures can be limited to a specific time period and assigned an exact date.

Can all ICD-10 primary and secondary diagnoses be provided for each treatment case?

-> Yes, in case they have been documented in the KIS. However, secondary diagnoses are rarely documented there, but rather mentioned in continuous text. At the moment, it is still too technically complex for us to extract secondary diagnoses from continuous text, so they are only exported if they have been previously documented in the designated field in the KIS.

How is a case/encounter defined in the DIC (inpatient stay, day inpatient case, outpatient treatment day)?

-> For us, everything, i.e. inpatient stays, day inpatient cases, outpatient treatment days, falls under case.

Can OPS and ICD codes be clearly assigned to the same case?

-> Yes, via the same case ID, which is also output.

Is it technically possible to link OPS events with ICD diagnoses within a time window of, for example, ±90 days (look-back/look-forward)?

-> Theoretically yes, because both are assigned to a case ID with a timestamp. However, this link would have to be made by the researcher themselves.

Can OPS and ICD data be differentiated according to treatment setting (inpatient, day patient, outpatient)?

-> Yes, this information can also be provided.

Is a pseudonymised patient ID available that allows multiple cases to be linked across cases?

-> Yes, in both pseudonymised and anonymised data transfers, all cases can be uniquely assigned to a patient.

 

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