Health Analytics Research Platform (HARP)

About Us

• Learn about HARPs high-performance servers designed with security protocols to facilitate research access to data with highly sensitive patient information
• Learn about currently available data inventory
• Get assistance with access

Data Inventory

HARP data inventory includes:

• DUA-restricted CMS data:  These data include fee-for-service (FFS) Medicare claims, Part D claims, MedPAR, Medicare hospice, Medicare Advantage (MA) encounter data, and Medicaid TAF.
• Hopkins-licensed data that are linkable and complementary to HARP projects: Contextual data linkable to Medicare data include Vericred provider network data, OneKey healthcare industry database, American Hospital Association Annual Survey data, MA plan, service area, and benefit design data, and Physician and Hospital Compare data.

We keep the data up-to-date and are constantly acquiring new HBHI-relevant data as needed. HARP can also house your data to add to our data inventory. 

Additional notes on HARP secure servers:

HARP secure servers are designed for research using data that require high security such as data with individually identifiable, protected health information. Research projects designed around lower security datasets that include anonymous patient surveys, de-identified data, and publicly available data should be stored and analyzed on other University resources, such as the Safe Desktop.

The HARP server cluster is designed for the analysis of “complete” databases that are uploaded by our IT administrators. Since users are not allowed to upload their own data, the HARP is not an appropriate storage infrastructure for data from clinical trials, surveys, or other data sources that require more frequent updates.

Cost

JHPCE bills for storage space and CPU time to users monthly.  In addition, the HARP, as a service center within the Bloomberg School of Public Health charges an annual access fee for each research team using HARP services.  This fee is intended to cover the annual operating costs of the HARP, including administrative personnel, software licenses, hardware maintenance and depreciation, and database management. 

HARP staff can prepare a formal cost estimate for investigators submitting grant applications to be included with the budget justification. Please allow five business days for a response.  For funded projects, PIs and/or their staff should contact HARP in the earliest stages of the project to plan the timing, scope, and logistics of HARP resource use. Invoices are generally sent to PIs in May for the use of the HARP during the current fiscal year (July–June) unless prior arrangements have been made. If payment is not received, access to the HARP will be disabled, and project folders will be archived and then deleted.