Data Services

Over the past 10 years, HIP has developed a centralized state-of-the-art computing facility for the support of health services research, and for the management and analysis of electronic health records and healthcare claims data.

The HIP data infrastructure provides a resource for investigators across campus to house their data in a HIPAA-compliant system and to access these data remotely. HIP supports projects that improve population health across Wisconsin and nation.  

You must receive approval from your IRB, RSP, the UW-Madison Office of Cybersecurity, or other relevant university offices before you can store data at HIP, although HIP staff can help with this process.  For more information on HIP Data Services, please contact compliance@hip.wisc.edu.

Computing Infrastructure

The HIP computing infrastructure houses data in two different security zones; each zone includes both file servers and application servers running statistical software. 

1. The first zone houses limited datasets (LDS) and de-identified datasets. 
2. The second zone has additional security restrictions and houses data that is full “protected health information” (PHI). 

HIP offers the following services for those who store data on our servers:

• Application Servers for Statistical Processing – SAS, Stata, R, plus other programs
• High-speed Networking (10GB and 16GB) to support processing large datasets
• Storage – three tiers optimized for speed, capacity, and scalability
• Security and Privacy
  • Technical – Access and audit controls, integrity, authentication, transmission security
  • Physical – Facility access controls, workstation use/security, device/media controls
  • Management – security management, assigned security responsibility, workforce security, information access management, security awareness and training, security incident procedures, evaluation
• Regulatory Compliance
  • Review of IRB applications; business associate contracts, data use agreements
  • Coordination of access to HIP file servers and resources, including onboarding, review of training certifications, and auditing
• Remote Access to IT resources
• IT Helpdesk

Our Data Resources

HIP sponsors national, regional, statewide, and local datasets to examine health services research, dissemination, and implementation. These datasets are available for use by individuals who are undertaking work aligned with HIP’s mission and who have the required regulatory approvals (IRB, HIPAA, data re-use agreements) and funding to cover development and programming costs.

For more information, contact us at contact@hip.wisc.edu.

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