Research Access to and Uses of Administrative Data

1. Research Access to and Uses of Administrative Data Byron G Spencer McMaster University Prepared for the CRDCN Conference 2012 Evidence-Based Policy Formation and Evaluation University of New Brunswick, Fredericton October 22-24, 2012

2. Research context • Individual-level records has become the gold standard for empirical research • Whether from survey data (e.g., StatCan) • Or administrative data (e.g., health, tax, education) • Especially longitudinal records • But, roadblocks to access

3. Advantages / Disadvantages • Admin records can provide • Long time series • Reliable information • But • Limited! • Education, marital status, occupation, income?

4. Combine! • Can link individual income tax returns over time to survey (or census) information at a point in time • Or link health records to CCHS • Or link admin records with neighbourhood characteristics (e.g., average income, distance to nearest hospital)

5. Two examples • No linkage with survey data in these examples • Use of income tax records • To measure retirement and assess income replacement in retirement • Use of health records • To assess the age pattern of treatment for hip replacement

6. Income in retirement • Access to LAD (Longitudinal Administrative Databank)

7. Income and income replacement Figure 2: Income-Age Profiles, by Age of Retirement, 1982 Male Cohort

8. Hip Replacement • Access to Ontario administrative health data – specifically, hospital inpatient records • Treatment options for hip replacement– • Therapeutic (no replacement) • Cemented • Uncemented • Autograft • Combined

9. Treatment choices

10. Accounting for state of health makes little difference

11. But hospital matters … HOSP. D HOSP. C HOSP. A HOSP. E HOSP. B

12. Facilitating Access to Data • Depends on security requirements • High security – e.g., StatCan RDCs, ICES hubs • Medium security – e.g., PEDAL • Low security – StatCan public use files • Cooperation needed to make access routine • Gov’t departments, including data custodians, service providers, and researchers • Need to address privacy concerns • Documentation /understanding of files

13. Benefits of providing research access to admin data • Access to highly qualified and strongly motivated researchers • Can facilitate both researcher-driven investigations and commissioned studies • Routine access to such data makes it possible to address matters of policy relevance at very low cost • Faculty, graduate students, PDFs

14. Benefits … (cont’d) • Formal evaluation of the various projects undertaken as part of the McMaster Pilot observed that • “extended analysis relevant to billions of dollars of spending” • “alerts practitioners and policy makers to potential adverse effects”

15. How to get there • Keep talking! • Must have buy-in at the top • i.e., DMs, ADMs must be persuaded • Keep focus on the social benefits • Respect privacy concerns • BUT, find ways to respect privacy concerns without foregoing the benefits that can be derived from evidence