IHE IT Infrastructure (ITI) White Paper – Analysis of Optimal De-Identification Algorithms for Family Planning Data Elements

This document describes the analysis performed by the IT Infrastructure Technical Committee when selecting the optimal de-identification algorithms to fulfil the De-Identification for Family Planning use case published in Volume 4 of the IHE Quality, Research, and Public Health (QRPH) Family Planning Trial Implementation Supplement.

This use case required the de-identification of data for the purposes of health services research, for example in program planning and budgeting, basic monitoring of program performance and adherence to the scope of a funded project, clinical quality improvement initiatives and whether services are being delivered to the intended populations.

The document has two intended audiences:

· clinicians, researchers, data analysts, and others who seek to understand how and why the selected de-identification algorithms were chosen for each data element (the target audience for this document)

· developers who will implement the de-identification algorithms into their software (who should start with the IHE QRPH De-Identification for Family Planning supplement and consult this document for additional background information where needed).

Main sections:

· Purpose and intended audience

· De-identification goals for family planning data elements

· Problem description

· Definitions

· Conventions

· Use cases

· De-identification methods

· Data models

· De-identification algorithm analysis

· Appendix A: Sample FP CDA documents and their de-identified documents

· Appendix B: Usability analysis of de-identified data