Standardizing millions of data points

The strength of the PCORnet infrastructure is that it enables researchers to quickly capture data insights from a large network representing more than 78 health systems at once, which has historically been challenging. That is because each of these systems code and define data slightly differently from one another. A clinic might code birthdate as “Date_of_Birth,” a health system might call it “Birth_DT,” and a health registry might use the code “DOB.”

The PCORnet® Common Data Model, developed by the PCORnet® Network Partners, solves this challenge by standardizing millions of data points from clinical information systems participating in PCORnet into a common format. As a result, users of PCORnet can ask the same question simultaneously to hundreds of disparate systems and receive a clear, reliable answer.