Clinical Data Interoperability Services

Clinical Data Interoperability Services (CDIS) via EPIC Heading link

The CDIS module is a feature that allows REDCap projects to connect directly to an electronic health record (EHR) system, such as EPIC, and pull selected clinical information from the EHR into the REDCap project. This is done via the Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR), a web services standard for exchanging electronic health information between healthcare applications.

Instead of obtaining data via manual chart review or batch upload, the CDIS module allows a REDCap user to automatically pull patient-level clinical data per Medical Record Number (MRN) in the REDCap project. An example use case may be a study recruiting patients and collecting ongoing clinical information, like labs and diagnoses. Once the integration between Epic and REDCap is set up and the data elements are mapped, the research team could automatically update patient contact information, labs, and diagnoses whenever its needed.

This process requires IRB approval for all the requested data elements. The following information in EPIC can be imported into REDCap via the CDIS module:

  • Demographics: includes address (street address, city, state, postal code, country), date of birth, first and last name, home and mobile phone numbers, gender, race, and ethnicity
  • Current problems list
  • Medications list (active, completed, on-hold, stopped)
  • Allergy Intolerance list
  • Vital Signs
  • Laboratory
  • Adverse Event (Research Related Only)
  • Core Characteristics (Gestational age at birth and Birth Weight)
  • Encounter List
  • Immunization

Request Process Heading link

  1. Request a consultation with the CCTS Biomedical Informatics Core via the CCTS Service Request System (link: https://webapps.ccts.uic.edu/CCTS_Service_Requests/login.aspx)
  2. IRB approval is required, and a project member must be a Key Study Personnel (KSP) as identified in the IRB protocol. The BI Core will request IRB documentation and schedule the initial consultation to discuss your research and the requested data elements
  3. Once IRB approval is obtained, the BI Core team will create a REDCap project and enable the CDIS module, so Epic connectivity can be established
  4. The BI Core will map the requested data elements to the corresponding data in EPIC, which allows the data to be for each patient into the REDCap project
  5. Moving forward, data pulls can be done by the KSP identified in the IRB. This individual must have security permissions to be able to access the patient information that is being pulled from EPIC into REDCap

Contact Joanna Tess at at jtess2@uic.edu with questions.