PaTH is a Clinical Research Network made up of nine academic health systems: Boston Medical Center, Geisinger, Johns Hopkins University, Johns Hopkins Health System, Penn State College of Medicine, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, RUSH, Temple Health System, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, the University of Pittsburgh, UPMC and UPMC Health Plan, The Ohio State University, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, University of Michigan, and Michigan Medicine. PaTH functions as an integrated research network and learning health collaboratory, providing an infrastructure for pragmatic clinical trials and observational studies that need populations beyond a single health system to answer important clinical questions. This infrastructure includes institutional relationships, a streamlined and centralized Institutional Review Board (IRB), site champions to assist in identifying co-investigators, and data intra-operability between the partner electronic health records (EHR). PaTH is part of the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network® (PCORnet®) and is partially funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute® (PCORI®).

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute® (PCORI®) is a Washington, DC-based nonprofit, nongovernmental funding agency interested in comparative clinical effectiveness research and patient-centered outcomes research. PCORI® aims to determine which health care options are best for patients and care providers by promoting high-integrity, evidence-based information learned through research guided by patients, caregivers, and the broader health care community. PCORI has funded 8 research networks that together form the PCORnet®, which supports faster, more useful patient-centered research nationwide. To learn more about PCORI and PCORnet, visit www.pcori.org and www.pcornet.org.

PaTH is made up of nine academic health systems: Boston Medical Center, Geisinger, Johns Hopkins University, Johns Hopkins Health System, Penn State College of Medicine, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, RUSH, Temple Health System, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, the University of Pittsburgh, UPMC and UPMC Health Plan, The Ohio State University, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, University of Michigan, and Michigan Medicine.

PaTH is capturing (or planning to capture) data from the following sources:

• Electronic health records (EHR)
• Patients (i.e., patient-reported outcome measures)
• Insurance claims data from select institutional health plans
• Selected geographic-based measures (e.g., Rural-urban commuting area codes, Area Deprivation Index)

Not all EHR data is available in PaTH. Data elements that are available are those specified by the PCORnet® Common Data Model (CDM), which includes variables defined in a standardized manner (e.g., sex, race, encounter dates, encounter types, weight, blood pressure, etc.). Additional variables—called the PaTH Common Data Elements (CDEs)—have also been defined by PaTH when needed for specific research projects. We can work with researchers to define new CDEs that are needed for their study.

Patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures are patient responses to survey questions. Selected PROs that are collected as part of routine clinical practice are also extracted and included in the PaTH Common Data Model. We can work with researchers to include PRO data collection for their studies.

Insurance claims data in PaTH from the Geisinger Health Plan, The Ohio State University Health Plan and the UPMC Health Plan®. Claims from the other institutional health plans may be added.

PaTH provides an infrastructure for pragmatic clinical trials and observational studies that need populations beyond a single health system to answer important clinical questions.

Academic researchers at PCORnet®-affiliated institutions AND those at non-PCORnet®-affiliated institutions are eligible to propose research studies using PaTH and/or PCORnet® data. We encourage use by research teams that engage members of the community.

If you have an idea for a research study using PaTH, the first step is to contact your institution’s PaTH site Principal Investigator and the PaTH Network Manager (pathcdrn@pitt.edu). They would be happy to assist!

Certainly! PaTH can support projects funded from a variety of sources, including the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute® (PCORI®), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) among others.

PaTH is very interested in supporting mentored student and trainee research projects whenever possible. Please reach out to the PaTH Network Manager (pathcdrn@pitt.edu) for more information.

Costs for using PaTH depend on your research needs. The PaTH cost model describes the different types of data, personnel, and other resources that PaTH could offer your project and the associated effort needed. Data costs depend on the complexity of the data needed—for example, limiting your data requests to data in the PCORnet® CDM will be less costly than requesting new data elements. If your research project requires research staff (i.e. a project manager, research assistants), you may wish to hire your own staff or hire PaTH project staff who are already familiar with the PaTH Network.

Patient and stakeholder engagement is a priority of PCORI®, PCORnet®, and the PaTH Network. We can provide consultative support on engagement plans as well as assist with identifying possible community partners for a proposed (or funded) study.

See how to cite PaTH for your study on our Citing PaTH page.