Services and Costs for the Academic Research
The GPRD Group offers access to the data via a variety of services designed to meet the needs of different research groups. These range from online access to the entire database, or to regional or age-specific subsets, through to the provision of data-sets or aggregate tables for single projects. Special pricing applies to the use of the GPRD for academic research:
Feasibility Counts
Simple counts of patients and events for specified diseases or prescriptions are done free of charge.
Aggregate Data Tables
The cost of providing aggregated data tables varies with the complexity of the request and is based on researcher time spent extracting, preparing and analysing the data. Examples of different types of aggregate tables that could be provided include:
- Incidence rates or prevalence of a specified disease or event, stratified by gender, age group and year
- Counts of patients with a given disease stratified by type of secondary care referral, or drug prescribed
- Rates and patterns of therapy switching for a specified cohort of patients
- Aggregated person-time denominator data for those wishing to generate incidence themselves
Prices start at £500
Patient-level Data-sets
GPRD data-sets consist of a core data-set, which includes all clinical and prescription events for a defined cohort of patients, and optional data modules which contain additional data on these patients (e.g. referrals to secondary care, tests etc.). The cost of a data-set depends on the number of patients included, the number and type of different modules purchased, and the complexity of the data-set to be generated.
Online access to live data
Researchers can access all up-to-date patient data in GPRD via a secure online service. Online access allows researchers to extract as many data-sets as they require for their research projects for which ISAC approval has been obtained. Basic online access includes access to all data and selected data extraction tools, and costs £127,500 per annum.
Other Services
Follow-up and source data verification services which require direct contact with GPs (including sending questionnaires), are also available on request.
- Verification service, offering additional information (e.g. anonymised hospital letters, death certificates and GP-completed questionnaires) to validate diagnoses
- Anonymisation of the free text held in the patients' notes on GPRD
In addition, for details on new services being developed within GPRD, please contact us visit the GPRD helpdesk (). These services include:
- Linkages – HES data, SES & ONS Death information, Disaese registers and more
- Interventional studies – Observational RCT’s, Pharmacogenetic studies and other methodologies
- Exetrac Risk management tool – For risk management studies on new to market products (see Exetrac Web-Site)
- Global data – Access to data from other european countries and the US via a series of alliances and collaborations with international partners
Customer support provided
The GPRD Group has an experienced research team which assists customers with queries and can advise on data quality, study design and data analysis. Additionally, all customers are supported by our Helpdesk to help resolve any issues.
Account managers
Online users have a dedicated researcher as an account manager. They will be the primary point of contact for enquiries. To discover who your account manager is, please contact the GPRD helpdesk ()
We are happy to provide advice to academic departments wishing to use the GPRD for research. Please contact Dr Tim Williams - for further information or the GPRD helpdesk - .
