System and method for analyzing, collecting and tracking patient data across a vast patient population

1. A system for analyzing, collecting, and tracking patient data across a vast patient population comprising:

a plurality of Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems that are each built on a common architecture and that are provided at a plurality of healthcare provider sites, said plurality of EHR systems being configured to capture and transmit the patient data in a common data format that specifies information to be collected and a format for the information to be collected, each EHR system comprising at least one input device for capturing data for a plurality of patients in real time and in the common data format;

at least one research system that is built on the common architecture and that is configured to transmit and receive the patient data in the common data format and to generate a dataset by performing at least one of analyzing, collecting, and tracking the data captured by the plurality of EHR systems in the standardized format; and

at least one workstation that is configured to receive input from a user for setting criteria by which the research system analyzes, collects, and tracks the data captured by the plurality of EHR systems and to display the dataset generated by the at least one research system;

wherein the dataset includes the data that corresponds to each of the criteria set at the workstation;

wherein the dataset generated by the research system is used to pre-populate at least one form retrieved utilizing the RFD standard;

wherein the at least one research system sends defined data elements from a dataset to a central router or registry in a batch or near real time feed to complete forms as the data is captured in real time by at least one of the plurality of EHR systems; and

wherein the criteria set at the at least one research system generates a dataset that includes at least one of de-identified data for at least one patient that has demonstrated health conditions that suggest the at least one patient is having adverse effects from taking a specific drug, de-identified data for at least one patient that qualifies for a clinical trial, de-identified data of at least one patient diagnosed with a disease to be recorded in a disease registry, and de-identified data summarizing at least one healthcare provider's quality and financial performance.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the plurality of EHR systems utilizes the Retrieve Form for Data Capture (RFD) standard at the point of care in a production environment to complete forms in real time and submit the forms to a form archiver.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the forms completed at the point of care include forms obtained from at least one of a clinical trial sponsor, a public health organization, a disease registry, and a safety/quality organization.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the forms completed as the data is captured in real time include forms that must be submitted for at least one of a clinical trial sponsor, a public health organization, a disease registry, and a safety/quality organization.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the data captured by the plurality of EHR systems is automatically associated with at least one of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), RxNorm, Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes (LOINC), and Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) standardized terminologies.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one research system performs at least one of analyzing, collecting, and tracking the data captured by the plurality of EHR systems by applying a sequential filtering process to the data captured by the plurality of EHR systems.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the dataset further includes patient-specific data for each patient satisfying the criteria set at the workstation.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the system includes at least fifty hundred EHR systems provided at different healthcare providers' sites.

9. The system of claim 1 , further comprising an interoperability engine for exchanging data with external information systems in a format readable by the external information system.

10. A system for analyzing, collecting, and tracking patient data across a vast patient population comprising:

a plurality of Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems that are each built on a common architecture and that are provided at a plurality of healthcare provider sites, said plurality of EHR systems being configured to capture and transmit the patient data in a common data format that specifies information to be collected and a format for the information to be collected, each EHR system comprising at least one input device for capturing data for a plurality of patients in real time and in the common data format;

at least one research system that is built on the common architecture and that is configured to transmit and receive the patient data in the common data format and to generate a dataset by performing at least one of analyzing, collecting, and tracking the data captured by the plurality of EHR systems in the standardized format; and

at least one workstation that is configured to receive input from a user for setting criteria by which the research system analyzes, collects, and tracks the data captured by the plurality of EHR systems and to display the dataset generated by the at least one research system;

wherein the dataset includes the data that corresponds to each of the criteria set at the workstation;

wherein the criteria set at the at least one research system generates a dataset that includes at least one of de-identified data for at least one patient that has demonstrated health conditions that suggest the at least one patient is having adverse effects from taking a specific drug, de-identified data for at least one patient that qualifies for a clinical trial, de-identified data of at least one patient diagnosed with a disease to be recorded in a disease registry, and de-identified data summarizing at least one healthcare provider's quality and financial performance.

11. A method for analyzing, collecting, and tracking patient data across a vast patient population, the method comprising the steps of:

capturing data for a plurality of patients in real time at a plurality of Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems that are built on a common architecture and provided at a plurality of healthcare providers' sites, said plurality of EHR systems being configured to capture and transmit the patient data in a common data format that specifies information to be collected and a format for the information to be collected, each of the plurality of EHR systems being configured to capture data for a plurality of patients in the common data format;

generating a dataset by at least one of analyzing, collecting, and tracking the data captured by the plurality of EHR systems using a research system built on the common architecture and configured to transmit and receive the patient data in the common data format;

receiving input from a user at a workstation for setting criteria by which the research system performs at least one of analyzing, collecting, and tracking the data captured by the plurality of EHR systems; and

displaying the dataset generated by performing at least one of the analyzing, collecting, and tracking the data captured by the plurality of EHR systems,

wherein the dataset includes the data that corresponds to each of the criteria set at the workstation;

wherein the dataset generated by the research system is used to pre-populate at least one form retrieved utilizing the RFD standard;

wherein the step of analyzing, collecting, and tracking the data captured by the plurality of EHR systems includes sending defined data elements from a dataset to a central router or registry in a batch or near real time feed to complete forms as the data is captured in real time by at least one of the plurality of EHR systems; and

wherein the criteria set at the at least one research system generates a dataset that includes at least one of de-identified data for at least one patient that has demonstrated health conditions that suggest the at least one patient is having adverse effects from taking a specific drug, de-identified data for at least one patient that qualifies for a clinical trial, de-identified data of at least one patient diagnosed with a disease to be recorded in a disease registry, and de-identified data summarizing at least one healthcare provider's quality and financial performance.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the step of capturing data includes utilizing the Retrieve Form for Data Capture (RFD) standard at the point of care in a production environment to complete forms in real time and submit the forms to a form archiver.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the forms completed at the point of care include forms obtained from at least one of a clinical trial sponsor, a public health organization, a disease registry, and a safety/quality organization.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the forms completed as the data is captured in real time include forms that must be submitted for at least one of a clinical trial sponsor, a public health organization, a disease registry, and a safety/quality organization.

15. The system of claim 11 , wherein the step of capturing data includes automatically associating the captured data with at least one of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes (LOINC), and Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) standardized terminologies.

16. The system of claim 11 , wherein the step of analyzing, collecting, and tracking the data captured by the plurality of EHR systems includes applying a sequential filtering process to the data captured by the plurality of EHR systems.

17. A method for analyzing, collecting, and tracking patient data across a vast patient population, the method comprising the steps of:

capturing data for a plurality of patients in real time at a plurality of Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems that are built on a common architecture and provided at a plurality of healthcare providers' sites, said plurality of EHR systems being configured to capture and transmit the patient data in a common data format that specifies information to be collected and a format for the information to be collected, each of the plurality of EHR systems being configured to capture data for a plurality of patients in the common data format;

generating a dataset by at least one of analyzing, collecting, and tracking the data captured by the plurality of EHR systems using a research system built on the common architecture and configured to transmit and receive the patient data in the common data format;

receiving input from a user at a workstation for setting criteria by which the research system performs at least one of analyzing, collecting, and tracking the data captured by the plurality of EHR systems; and

displaying the dataset generated by performing at least one of the analyzing, collecting, and tracking the data captured by the plurality of EHR systems,

wherein the dataset includes the data that corresponds to each of the criteria set at the workstation; and

wherein the step of setting criteria results in the at least one of analyzing, collecting, and tracking the data captured by the plurality of EHR systems generating a dataset that includes at least one of de-identified data for at least one patient that has demonstrated health conditions that suggest the at least one patient is having adverse effects from taking a specific drug, de-identified data for at least one patient that qualifies for a clinical trial, de-identified data of at least one patient diagnosed with a disease to be recorded in a disease registry, and de-identified data summarizing at least one healthcare provider's quality and financial performance.

18. The system of claim 11 , wherein the dataset further includes patient-specific data for each patient satisfying the criteria set at the workstation.

19. The system of claim 11 , wherein the method includes analyzing, collecting, and tracking the data captured by at least fifty EHR systems provided at different healthcare providers' sites.

20. The system of claim 11 , further comprising a step of exchanging data with external information systems via an interoperability engine that reformats the dataset into a format readable by the external information system.