PaTH To Health

The mission of Penn State PaTH to Health is to support research that uses patient data from multiple sources to advance scientific discovery. Penn State PaTH to Health is committed to continuously improving our data quality, protecting the privacy of patient data, maintaining nationally recognized data standards (i.e., PCORnet Common Data Model), and advancing methodologies in applying electronic health record data (EHR) in research. Penn State PaTH to Health contains health data on more than 1 million patients who have received medical care at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center since Jan. 1, 2011; the dataset is refreshed quarterly.

The foundation of the PaTH to Health data is interrelated to the PaTH Network. The PaTH Network is one of 13 Clinical Data Research Networks that comprise PCORnet, the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network. PCORnet is funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), an independent nonprofit, nongovernmental organization authorized by Congress in 2010.

About the Data

About the Common Data Model

The Common Data Model (CDM) describes patient-level data variables defined and organized in a standardized manner (i.e., with the same variable name, attributes and other metadata). The CDM includes data on demographics, encounters, diagnoses and procedures. A CDM data dictionary can be found via PCORnet. The data incorporated in the CDM uses pseudo-identifiers instead of real medical record numbers.

Data Quality and Completeness

Data curation queries are used to assess the quality, completeness and characteristics of the data. Analysts within the Enterprise Information Management team at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center carefully examine the data curation results to identify common themes and opportunities for improvement.

Data Details

Penn State PaTH to Health offers researchers the opportunity to securely work with and learn from varied patient populations, and we can support a range of studies including observational studies based on health record data and clinical trials.

Penn State PaTH to Health is covered under IRB protocol 00006433. The purpose of the protocol is to provide regulatory oversight for answering queries against the full de-identified cohort of patients established for the PaTH Network. It allows the Penn State PaTH to Health team to provide prep-to-research data in order to plan their individual research studies.