System and method for recruiting patients for medical research across a vast patient population

A system for recruiting participants for medical research over an extended computer network, the system comprising:

• an enhanced services server built on the same architecture as a plurality of Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems, the enhanced services server being in data communication with the plurality of EHR systems via a network connection, and the plurality of EHR systems being configured to capture patient data for a plurality of patients at a plurality of corresponding healthcare provider sites;
• search functionality configured to search the patient data captured by each of the plurality of EHR systems based on search criteria input with an input device and to output patient data for a plurality of qualifying patients identified as satisfying the search criteria, the search criteria being associated with clinical criteria that a patient must satisfy to qualify to participate in the medical research, and the output patient data being de-identified to hide any patient-identifying information associated with that patient data and instead identifying each of the plurality of qualifying patients according to the healthcare provider site at which the patient data for that patient was captured;
• messaging functionality configured to send an electronic message via the network connection to one or more healthcare provider sites at which patient data for at least one of the plurality of qualifying patients was captured, the electronic message being a request from a researcher for authorization to access patient-identifying information associated with the patient data for at least one of the plurality of qualifying patients,
• wherein, upon receiving authorization in response to the request, the researcher can access the patient-identifying information associated with the patient data for the at least one of the plurality of qualifying patients identified with the output data, the patient-identifying information being accessed from the EHR system with which that data was captured via the network connection, and
• wherein the at least one of the plurality of qualifying patients can be recruited to participate in the medical research using the patient-identifying information associated with the patient data for that patient.

A method for recruiting participants for medical research over an extended computer network, the method comprising the steps of:

• placing an enhanced services server in electronic communication with a plurality of Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems via a network connection, the plurality of EHR systems being configured to capture patient data for a plurality of patients at a plurality of corresponding healthcare provider sites, and the enhanced services server being built on the same architecture as the plurality of EHR systems;
• inputting search criteria into an input device, the criteria corresponding to clinical criteria that a patient must satisfy to qualify to participate in the medical research;
• searching the patient data captured by each of the plurality of EHR systems based on search criteria input with an input device, the search criteria corresponding to clinical criteria that a patient must satisfy to qualify to participate in the medical research;
• identifying a plurality of qualifying patients who satisfy the search criteria, the patient data being de-identified to hide any patient-identifying information associated with that patient data and the plurality of qualifying patients instead being identified according to the healthcare provider site at which the patient data for that patient was captured;
• sending an electronic message via the network connection to one or more EHR systems at one or more corresponding healthcare provider sites at which patient data for at least one of the plurality of qualifying patients was captured, the electronic message being a request from a researcher for authorization to access patient-identifying information associated with the patient data for the at least one of the plurality of qualifying patients;
• receiving authorization for the researcher to access the patient-identifying information associated with the patient data at the one or more healthcare provider sites at which patient data for at least one of the plurality of qualifying patients was captured, the access being via the network connection;
• and
• recruiting the at least one of the plurality of qualifying patients to participate in the medical research using the patient-identifying information associated with that patient data.