SHARP for NEDSS Users
The State Health Analytics and Reporting Platform (SHARP) is a modern data warehouse solution that brings DSHS data from various program areas into a common repository where sophisticated analysis and reporting can occur. At the heart of SHARP is the Snowflake data warehouse engine – a high performance data warehouse tool that is designed to consume and analyze very large data sets (often 
referred to as “big data”). SHARP also consists of data pipelines that extract data from various program areas and structure that data into meaningful relationships within the Snowflake data warehouse where users can see latitudinal views of health information between lab reports, case investigations, immunizations, providers, and vital statistics data, as an example. SHARP also provides various ways to analyze and present data. Popular analytical tools such as SAS, PowerBI, and R Studio can be directly connected to SHARP to support epidemiological analysis as well as presentation tools such as Tableau can be connected to support data visualization, dashboards, and reporting. In addition, SHARP maintains a multi-level security model that tightly controls access of information to the platform.
SHARP makes it easier for jurisdictions to retrieve and analyze health data. It provides the ability to retrieve large amounts of data much quicker than was previously available. Additionally, it provides the benefit of aggregating and relating data from various program areas into a single view, which was not available until now.
Data is collected from various program area systems and then validated, cleansed, and moved through data pipelines into the Snowflake data warehouse where it is structured to facilitate analysis and reporting. Within Snowflake, data can be accessed directly by logging into the platform where SQL queries can be executed on datasets that are available. In addition, data can be accessed via visualization and analytical tools that support ODBC (Online Data Base Connectivity) connections so that jurisdictional users can leverage tools they currently use to analyze epidemiological data. In addition, SHARP provides the ability for applications to connect directly to the Snowflake data warehouse through API’s (application programming interfaces) so that program area applications can easily obtain relevant data and make that available to system users.
Who is Eligible to Access SHARP?
Access to SHARP is currently limited to certified NEDSS users who have been granted access to the COVID-19 program area in NEDSS and who are approved by their managers to conduct advanced data analytics. DSHS will provide updates to all NEDSS users when there is a change to this criteria.
For more information on accessing SHARP, please select the appropriate resource below.
Helpful Resources:
- Snowflake Reference Guide
- PowerBI Snowflake Connector
- Tableau to Snowflake Integration
- SAS Connection to Snowflake
- Snowflake ODBC Driver Installation
- Snowflake Connectivity Guide