Introduction to EPHT Secure Portal Data
Introduction to Utah's Secure EPHT Datasets
While most of the Utah EPHT datasets are non-sensitive public data, some datasets contain data values that are hidden in order to protect the confidentiality of private health information. The difference between public and secure datasets is that the secure datasets have smaller data subfields (finer granularity) and no data cells are hidden. Smaller data subfields make it easier to reveal the identity of the people behind the data. The public cannot access these secure datasets; access is only granted through an approval process.For example, displaying two asthma hospitalizations occurring among elementary age girls in a small community during a particular year might be enough information for some people to determine the identity of the two girls. The values for asthma hospitalizations in that county would be suppressed on our public data portal. On the secure data portal, those practitioners, researchers and other approved health professionals who need access to suppressed data to perform their job duties to improve and protect public health, are allowed to query and view the unsuppressed data.
EPHT Dataset Partners
Much of the data that is presented on this website comes from other agencies or private entities outside the Utah Department of Health. These agencies are referred to as "data partners" by the Utah EPHT Network. Their data can be used to help understand and improve public health and our environment. See the EPHT Data Partners page for more information about our data partners and where the data comes from. This site includes the following sensitive, non-public, small population partner datasets:- Births
- Blood Lead
- Cancer
- Emergency Department Encounters
- Inpatient Hospital Discharge
- Mortality
Getting Started
If you are unable to find the needed data within the publicly accessible datasets then you might be able to find the data within the secure partner datasets. To get started you first have to know what datasets and data are available. Since all users of the partner data must be approved and authorized this site provides public metadata (data about the data) for each of the available secure partner datasets. This metadata contains useful information about the dataset including available measures/variables, data sources, origin, applicable geographies, who owns the data and more.If the metadata does not help you decide if you should apply for access or not, please Contact Us directly and we will be happy to help you.
Listed below are the general steps to get started:
- Use the Metadata Index page to understand what kind of information is available in the secure portal datasets. Use the search box function, or view the metadata files directly, to determine if a secure portal dataset will meet your needs.
- After you decide that a dataset contains the desired information, you need to apply for access. Please visit the Registration for Secure Dataset Access page to view the instructions and forms on how to obtain access.
- Once approved/authorized, an account is created and you will be provided access to the approved dataset(s) via this site's secure login page.
- When logged in, you can access a selections page that lists the available secure dataset selection(s).
- After selecting a queryable dataset and measure via their selection page, you will be shown a query builder page. This query builder interface page is the same interface used for querying the public datasets.
- The last step is to define the query filtering and display criteria on the builder page and submit the query. Once the query has been submitted, the results page is shown with options to save the query, adjust the criteria, change the chart, etc. Please visit the Help Page to access tutorials and other materials to learn how to use the Utah EPHT website.
