Generalizable EHR-R-REDCap pipeline for a national multi-institutional rare tumor patient registry

Objective: To develop a clinical informatics pipeline designed to capture large-scale structured EHR data for a national patient registry.

Materials and Methods: The EHR-R-REDCap pipeline is implemented using R-statistical software to remap and import structured EHR data into the REDCap-based multi-institutional Merkel Cell Carcinoma (MCC) Patient Registry using an adaptable data dictionary.

Results: Clinical laboratory data were extracted from EPIC Clarity across several participating institutions. Labs were transformed, remapped and imported into the MCC registry using the EHR labs abstraction (eLAB) pipeline. Forty-nine clinical tests encompassing 482,450 results were imported into the registry for 1,109 enrolled MCC patients. Data-quality assessment revealed highly accurate, valid labs. Univariate modeling was performed for labs at baseline on overall survival (N=176) using this clinical informatics pipeline.

Conclusion: We demonstrate feasibility of the facile eLAB workflow. EHR data is successfully transformed, and bulk-loaded/imported into a REDCap-based national registry to execute real-world data analysis and interoperability.