NCATS LINKAGE HONEST BROKER SERVICES TO SUPPORT THE NATIONAL COVID COHORT COLLABORATIVE (N3C) DATA ENCLAVE (COVID-19)

国家新冠肺炎队列协作(N3C)：N3C数据飞地是一个安全的平台，存储了由50多个贡献成员提供的统一临床数据。这块飞地上有超过6.51亿人的临床观察，超过650万人，包括超过210万例冠状病毒感染病例，总计超过73亿行数据。 一致性、匿名性和安全性通过N3C隐私保护记录链接(PPRL)实现。PPRL使用由数据贡献者应用于每个患者记录的未识别的软件生成的令牌。链接诚实经纪人持有未识别的令牌，并在不知道患者身份的情况下提供跨不同数据集生成的服务匹配令牌。未识别的令牌与驻留在数据飞地内的数据分开保存。作为PPRL过程的说明，Regenstrief使用Datavant，Inc.提供的软件生成一系列未识别的令牌。这些令牌被提供给数据提供商，例如医院网络阿尔法(HNA)。海航从其临床记录中剥离了识别PII的内容，并用代币取代了PII。然后，海航将未确认身份的临床记录上传到N3C。如果研究人员需要有关这些记录的更多信息，他们会将令牌提供给Regenstrief，后者在不了解潜在临床数据的情况下将令牌传递给海航。然后，海航提供了适当的回应。 关联诚实经纪人功能对PPRL至关重要，而PPRL反过来又对研究人员继续使用N3C数据飞地至关重要。这一要求的显著特征是供应商能够为N3C数据飞地提供不间断的链接诚实代理支持(协调、匿名和安全)。

National COVID-19 Cohort Collaborative (N3C): The N3C Data Enclave is a secure platform storing harmonized clinical data provided by more than 50 contributing members. The Enclave hosts over 651 million clinical observations on over 6.5 million persons, including over 2.1 million COVID cases, amounting to more than 7.3 billion rows of data. Harmonization, anonymity, and security is accomplished through the N3C privacy-preserving record linkage (PPRL). The PPRL uses a de-identified, software-generated token applied by a data contributor to each patient record. A linkage honest broker holds the de-identified tokens and provides a service matching token generated across disparate data sets without knowledge of the identity of the patients. The de-identified tokens are held separately from data residing within the data enclave. As an illustration of the PPRL process, Regenstrief generates a series of de-identified tokens using software provided by Datavant, Inc. The tokens are provided to a data provider, such as Hospital Network Alpha (HNA). HNA strips identifying PII from its clinical records and replaces the PII with the tokens. HNA then uploads the de-identified clinical records to N3C. If researchers require additional information about those records, they provide the token to Regenstrief, who passes it on to HNA without any knowledge of the underlying clinical data. HNA then provides the appropriate response. The linkage honest broker function is critical to the PPRL, which in turn is critical to continued use of the N3C Data Enclave by researchers. The salient characteristic of this requirement is the vendor’s ability to provide uninterrupted linkage honest broker support (harmonization, anonymity, and security) for the N3C Data Enclave.