Speakers
Jason Block, MD, MPH
Associate Professor
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute
Harvard Medical School
Thomas W. Carton, PhD, MS
Chief Data Officer
Louisiana Public Health Institute
Keywords
PCORnet; COVID-19; Electronic health record (EHR); Surveillance data
Key Points
- PCORnet is a national network of 66 million people with EHR-derived data available for research.
- After significant database modifications to effectively include COVID-19 related data, the CDC PCORnet COVID-19 project began in April 2020 with the first query. 43 participating institutions update data monthly.
- There have been 40 queries of the PCORnet COVID-19 data completed to date looking at descriptive trends of COVID-19 by care setting and demographics, vaccinations, chronic disease, and treatments.
- PCORnet COVID-19 data tracks percent hospitalized and relative risk of testing positive for COVID-19 by race over time.
- Data also shows treatment disparities with monoclonal antibodies over time by race and ethnicity. White patients or non-Hispanic patients who tested positive for COVID-19 were more likely to be treated with monoclonal antibodies than any other race or ethnicity.
- PCORnet COVID-19 data have also been used to investigate myocarditis and pericarditis after both COVID-19 vaccination and COVID-19 infection. Males ages 12 to 29 have increased risk of cardiac complications after COVID-19 infection compared with COVID-19 vaccination.
- PCORnet is evolving to improve the capture of information, advance analytics, and provide better collaboration between federal public health and PCORnet investigators.
Discussion Themes
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- Complete surveillance data is difficult to obtain when not all testing or vaccination is being reported.
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- State vaccination data does not always get added the EHR until the patient has another primary care encounter.
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- The ability to continue doing this kind of work relies on a national public health infrastructure.
Read more about PCORnet.
Tags
#pctGR, @Collaboratory1