In an effort to provide investigators with more efficient and confidential access to clinical data needed for the analysis and assembly of patient cohorts, Partners HealthCare has implemented the Research Patient Data Registry (RPDR). The vision behind the RPDR is to offer clinical research faculty the ability to access a large data warehouse that serves as a central clinical data registry for both BWH and MGH inpatient and outpatient encounters. This registry brings protected clinical information to the researchers’ fingertips in several convenient ways and offers the following benefits:
Easy Access to Categorized Information:
You and/or your team members can access data via the RPDR online Query Tool to obtain aggregate data, such as total patients with user-defined combinations of diagnoses, procedures, medications, etc. during a particular time frame. With proper IRB approval, researchers can then request more detailed medical record data, such as contact information, labs and discharge summaries.
Sponsor a Workgroup:
BWH and MGH faculty members can register and sponsor a workgroup. From a Partners workstation, faculty can type the link below into the address section of Microsoft Internet Explorer to get started now - http://rpdrweb/partners/rpdrinfo/start/.
Protecting Patient Privacy:
The RPDR ensures the security of patient information by monitoring all queries, and by controlling and auditing the distribution of patient data within the guidelines of the IRB. All current research confidentiality standards are enforced.
October 2002 Release Features:
The most recent RPDR release includes several new options such as Laboratories tests, Custom Query Items and Importing Patient sets of Medical Record Numbers. Investigators can now use laboratory data as criteria for defining patient sets. The Custom Query items allow users to save query logic as either a patient set for further analysis or as query items for use in another query.
Automated Instruction:
The RPDR has been designed to be as automated as possible. Registration, tutorials, data selection and medical record requests can all be done via the online Query Tool or the RPDR Website. A new Advanced Tutorial has been added to demonstrate the October 2002 features as well as more complex use of the Query Tool.
For more information, contact Jeanne Guerin at 617-726-1231.