Data Ecosystem

The NCPCR is developing a comprehensive data system, known as the NCPCR Data Ecosystem, to support clinical research focused on primary care. This system will integrate data from OCHIN, the Health Choice Network (HCN), and the Southeast Regional Clinicians Network (SERCN) at Morehouse School of Medicine.

A key component of the system will be the ADVANCE Clinical Research Network, part of the national PCORnet® initiative, funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). The ADVANCE network brings over 10 years of electronic health record (EHR) data from OCHIN and HCN, two of the largest community health center networks in the U.S., all formatted to the PCORnet® Common Data Model (CDM). This data ecosystem will serve as a powerful resource for advancing research and improving primary care practices across the participating health centers.

The Data Ecosystem will focus on two main goals:

  • Building on ADVANCE’s infrastructure to create a system that allows CEAL researchers to request aggregated, de-identified EHR data formatted in the PCORnet® CDM for research purposes.
  • Applying lessons from ADVANCE to build the NCPCR Data Ecosystem for the 26 health centers participating in the CHW-SYSTIM randomized controlled trial.

The NCPCR Data Ecosystem will produce several key products:

  • EHR Data Repository: This will store relevant EHR data, such as demographic, clinical, and social determinants of health for patients at the 26 trial sites. Data for OCHIN and HCN sites will be sourced from the ADVANCE data warehouse, while data for other sites will be pulled from local EHR systems and formatted to the PCORnet® CDM.
  • Trial Data Repository: This will hold the final dataset for the CHW-SYSTIM trial, including EHR data for eligible patients at both intervention and control sites. It will also include data from REDCap for intervention sites, linking EHR data with social risk screening data for consented patients.
  • Cohort Discovery Tool: This tool will allow CEAL researchers to run queries and identify patient cohorts for research studies within the NCPCR Data Ecosystem.