Research

As a leading R&D center collaborating with a variety of groups, both within and outside of Johns Hopkins, CPHIT’s initial priorities include the following:

1. Development and testing of measures created from EHRs and other HIT systems to quantify quality, outcome and need within target populations and communities.
2. Use and advancement of computing methodologies -- including natural language processing (NLP) and pattern recognition tools -- to improve the application of non-structured EHR data for population-based interventions.
3. Initiation of effective approaches for linking provider-centric EHR systems with consumer-centric internet and mobile-based e-health applications.
4. Development of EHR-based tools and decision support applications to identify and help manage high risk populations for preventative and/or chronic care and to coordinate care within IDS/ACO delivery systems.
5. Technical and strategic approaches for creating an interoperable community of EHR networks and integrating them with the current functions of public health agencies (e.g., surveillance and vital records).
6. Creation of legal/ethical and policy frameworks to support the development of secondary use of EHRs for public health programs and research.
7. Development of innovative EHR-based tools and decision support for the next generation of system-based quality/safety improvement.
8. Formulation of methods and strategies for integrating health plan/provider/agency administrative data with EHR data to enhance population interventions and research.
9. Development of standardized tools and frameworks to support evidence generation and empirical evaluation in the field of health IT and informatics.