Networking the country to promote health and scientific discovery

This special focus issue on research data networks starts with a collection of articles describing a large initiative in the US that will use electronic health record data for patient-centered outcomes research in a privacy-preserving manner. This type of research will include observational and interventional studies. PCORnet, funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), leverages investments of several agencies such as the NIH, AHRQ, and FDA, as well as institutional support from healthcare systems to build a ‘network-of-networks' aimed at helping researchers answer questions that matter most to patients and their caregivers. An editorial by leaders of the NIH ( See page 576 ) embodies the excitement that has permeated the biomedical science, health services research, and informatics communities around the big challenge of connecting highly diverse systems into a national network. Taken together, the 11 clinical data research networks (CDRNs) and the 18 patient-powered research …