Integration of Administrative Data for Science and Public Policy: An Experience in Brazilian Public Health

<p>The deployment of administrative databases for research purposes holds great potential. Administrative data becomes even more useful when linked to other datasets, making it possible to elucidate the effects of combined factors that could potentially impact the health of populations. On the other hand, the access, use and reuse of these administrative datasets, principally those containing personally identifiable information, are all topics being widely discussed nowadays in an effort to maintain confidentiality, protect individuals’ privacy, respect terms of consent and manage security or other risks. For these reasons, we believe that our data management experience at the Fiocruz Center of Data and Knowledge Integration for Health (CIDACS) in Brazil can make a significant contribution by providing high-quality linked data for research purposes and generating evidence for public health policy.</p>