POPLAR Governance
POPLAR strives to ensure secure access to data for uses consistent with POPLAR’s mission, while maximizing opportunities for ethical research that benefits primary care providers, patients, and the public. POPLAR is funded through the Ministry of Health and its data repository is hosted at IC/ES; our guidelines adhere to and comply with policies and procedures.
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POPLAR's own policies and standard operating procedures specify how data is collected, processed, shared, and stored at IC/ES. All access and use of data will be compliant with privacy legislation, and all procedures will be reviewed regularly by the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPC). POPLAR aims to be transparent it its processes to access Ontario's Practice Based Learning and Research Network (PBLRN) data and ensure privacy, security, and risk are sufficiently addressed.
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The POPLAR Program is governed by its committees:​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​The POPLAR Steering Committee makes strategic and “high level” decisions. These include review and approval of strategic recommendations submitted by other committees, such as new data partnerships and linkages. Voting members of POPLAR’s Steering Committee include one representative of each member PBLRN, a representative of INSPIRE-PHC, and two patient representatives (co-Chairs of the Patient Advisory Committee). Administratively, the POPLAR Executive Committee, composed of the POPLAR Lead, Steering Chair, Steering Chair-Elect, POPLAR Program Manager, and POPLAR Research Coordinator, implements strategic decisions of the Steering Committee.
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The POPLAR Patient Advisory Committee (PAC) is a Patient Partner-led committee comprised of patients invited through each of the PBLRNs from across Ontario. The PAC represents and articulates patient needs, expectations, and experiences to the POPLAR leadership, committees, and other stakeholders.
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The POPLAR Research Project Intake Committee reviews and approves clinical research and projects requesting data access for research purposes. It may provide strategic recommendations to the Steering Committee. Administratively, the POPLAR Program Manager is responsible for ensuring that necessary documentation, including confidentiality forms, is completed.
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The POPLAR Data & Information Management Committee is responsible for operational management of data, including standardization of data processing. Administratively, the POPLAR Data Architect is responsible for operationalizing and overseeing the ongoing management of data security. The Data Manager’s Working Group is a sub-committee comprised of the POPLAR Data Architect and regional data managers that meet to troubleshoot data processing methods and validation techniques.
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The Indigenous Data Committee reviews and makes decisions on all research projects where there is or might be identification of First Nations communities or Indigenous organizations (via postal code, census subdivision, on-reserve practice location, or other granular geographic unit). It works in partnership with the Indigenous Primary Health Care Council.
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The Policy & SOP Working Group is responsible for developing and reviewing POPLAR’s policies and procedures. This group works to ensure POPLAR’s processes are compliant with the Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA), 2004, and to prepare documents for review by the IPC.
POPLAR collaborates with INSPIRE-PHC to strengthen primary care research and provide data support and expertise for health policy in Ontario.
POPLAR provides Ontario primary care EMR data to the Canadian Primary Care Sentinel Surveillance Network (CPCSSN) - a national-level repository collecting primary care data from many of Canada’s provinces and territories.