The Informatics Consultation service was an IRB approved project to study the use of routinely collected data on millions of individuals to provide on-demand evidence in those situations where good evidence is lacking. We informed clinical care decisions by summarizing “what happened to patients like mine” in the form a report with a descriptive summary of similar patients in Stanford’s clinical data warehouse, treatment choices made, and observed outcomes.
The service embodied the Green Button Idea outlined in a Health Affairs article in 2014. The study concluded in August 2019. We responded to 100 consultation requests by 53 users from multiple specialties. Of the 83 requests we fulfilled, 52 consultations guided further research, 17 led to follow up investigations and 10 directly informed patient care. This 3 minute animation summarizes the workflow of the service we offered during the study and the results are described in a NEJM Catalyst article.
To scale the concept nationally, we launched Atropos Health and lay out the journey ahead in a Harvard Business Review article.
Read the story of how the Green Button idea, step-by-step became the Informatics Consultation Service, as an IRB approved study. This work is part of the larger vision of being Digitally Driven at Stanford Health Care. Learn about the Advanced Cohort Engine (ACE) that enabled the service.
One minute video on the Informatics Consult Service. Read about harnessing millions of de-identified patient records for the ultimate consult.
Three minute video on the Service featured by the National Library of Medicine. Including congressional testimony by Dr. Patricia Brennan.
Grand Rounds at the NIH Collaboratory on Nov 22, 2019. Read about the impact of Using Aggregate Patient Data at the Bedside via an On-Demand Consultation Service in the NEJM Catalyst.