Chris Mac Manus & Mat IshacMonash Helix

19/11/2019

Monash SeRP, FHIR and Helix

NHMRC Symposium

What is FHIR?

• FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) is designed to enable the exchange of healthcare-related information. This includes clinical data as well as healthcare-related administrative, public health and research data.hl7.org/fhir

• FHIR is based on HL7 and CDA standards.• FHIR ‘Resources’ are a collection of information models that define the data elements,

constraints and relationships for the business objects most relevant to healthcare.• FHIR ‘APIs’ are a collection of well-defined interfaces for interoperating between two

applications.

What is FHIR? (in pictures)

Monash Partners FHIR Project

Overview• Monash Partners has awarded funding to Monash University to establish a FHIR capability

that will integrate Health Service data with Clinical Registry data.• The 2 year project will develop FHIR based infrastructure in the University• Two Monash Partner hospitals engaged: Peninsula Health and Alfred Health• Two Clinical Quality Registries: Victorian Lung Cancer Registry and Prostate Cancer Outcomes

Registry (Victoria)• FHIR infrastructure located in secure zone to ensure security of data.• Managed by an ISO27001 Information Security team.

Monash Partners FHIR Project (in pictures)

• Victorian hospitals are yet to embed FHIR technology

• Currently HL7 is used for transferring data between systems

• Data will be transferred using SFTP in the interim

• Development of a mapping from FHIR to SQL will allow the process to scale

• Additional data sources can be added

• Additional end-points can be added

Project Update

Ethics• Ethics amendments have been made to allow technical staff to handle

identifiable data.Health Services

• Both Alfred Health and Peninsula Health have been engaged, and are developing extracts from Data Warehouses

Helix• Developer is building tools to interrogate and map FHIR objects• Architect is establishing a FHIR server to accept incoming messages

What is Monash SeRP?

SeRP is a high powered, safe and secure e-research platform that allows data owners and researchers to store, access, share, link and analyse data at scale, in a fully governed, highly secure environment, whilst maintaining full control of the data at all times.

• Hosted on NeCTAR Research Cloud (Local Monash instance)• Penetration Test conducted• Data Privacy Assessment conducted

https://www.monash.edu/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/1498337/Monash_Uni_Helix_Flyers.PDF

https://saildatabank.com/wp-content/uploads/UKSeRP_Brochure_v1.5.pdf

Monash SeRP – A Swansea collaboration

Access to Monash SeRP

Secure remote access from anywhere in the world

Monash Account • Used to login to the Monash SeRP sites• Affiliate appointments OK

Restricted via access to Monash VPN• No VPN – no access

Key features for data custodiansCustomised to each project

• Create roles and permission levels

Data custodian governed• File in and file out approval• Data upload and inbuilt quality checks

Modules in development• Data linkage• Natural Language Processing

Key features for researchersComplete, pre-installed suite of software

• Ability to customise to the project and the user

Access• Separate and dedicated storage space - P: drive (project drive) and U: drive (user drive) • No saving to desktop• No internet access (some software exceptions – e.g. Stata, R through private proxy

server)

High powered computing• “Flavours” (Small, Medium, Large, X-Large)• Geospatial analysis with GPU support

Support for SeRP Users

Online resource• Support and knowledge base portal• Researcher and custodian guidelines

Support & Enquiries email address• safehavens@monash.edu

Monash Helix

Helix is a health data ecosystem operated by expert staff and underpinned by world-class research infrastructure driving the progress of personalised medicine towards a healthier future society.This capability is an initiative of Monash University working collaboratively with key health partners, including Alfred, Eastern, Monash and Peninsula Health.

Capabilities• Secure data management - REDCap• Governed environments for data sharing - Monash SeRP• Secure virtual environments for statistical data analysis• High performance computing, research cloud and research data storage - eResearch

Centre and MASSIVE

Monash Helix

Specialist Services• Clinical research software development• Clinical database hosting/maintenance• Collaborative platforms• Data linkage• Advocacy for enabling translational

research

https://www.monash.edu/researchinfrastructure/helixHelix

Monash UniversityLevel 1, 553 St Kilda Road

Melbourne, VIC. 3004

• Data management plan support• Consulting/Advisory support for secure

environments for clinical research• Compliance with local and international data

privacy laws (e.g. GDPR)