Clinical Data Pull (CDP)/Epic Data Pull Overview

Answer

Clinical Data Pull (CDP) allows a REDCap project to pull structured patient data directly from Epic into the project. This eliminates the need for manual data transcription or repeated uploads.  The REDCap project is built first by study team. When CDP is enabled, existing REDCap fields can be ‘mapped’ to Epic data points, allowing import of that data after the Epic MRN has been added to a record.

CDP Approvals & Epic
  • Research projects: CDP does not need to be specifically mentioned as long as the points below are included in the approved IRB protocol. It is the study team's responsibility to make sure that these are part of the protocol when seeking to have CDP enabled.
    • Protocol must include retrieving data from EPIC.
    • Protocol should mention using REDCap for collecting/storing project data.
  • Quality Improvement/Quality Assurance and Admin projects: CDIS use must be approved by the BILH Executive Director of Clinical Research (D. Reichgott).
  • Epic: REDCap users seeking to configure/use Epic data pull must already have Epic accounts. Individuals cannot pull data from Epic into REDCap that they would not be able to view directly in Epic itself. After the data is pulled into REDCap, access is available via regular REDCap project permissions. 

CDP Limitations ('Caveat Utilitor'):

  • Repeating events/instruments are NOT supported by CDP:  Each data point being mapped needs to belong to a non-repeating event/form.
  • Gender/Race/Ethnicity: Some REDCap fields must be specially set up to pull data from Epic.  The raw value or option number used in REDCap for a dropdown or radio button must match the raw value in Epic.  Additionally, for race and ethnicity, REDCap only pulls the first value even if more than one is selected in Epic.  Please see REDCap Project Design for CDP for additional guidance.
  • Data Availability & Format: Not all data can be transferred from Epic to REDCap, or the data that is transferred may be formatted in a way that is unhelpful.  For instance, medications in a CDP project are all together in a single notes field, rather than a structured field per medication.
  • Data Overwrite: If a field is mapped to Epic, expect data from Epic to overwrite what is in the field.  If you anticipate your team needing to collect or edit the data yourselves, the safest methods are to either create two versions of the field (such as "email_epic" and "email_study") or to not map the field to epic and instead manually enter the data.  It is possible to prevent an update from overwriting a field on a one-time basis, but the field has to be manually deselected from import for each record/data pull, and the chances for inadvertent change are very high.

Requesting CDP

  1. Request that the CDP module be turned on by emailing the BILH REDCap Support Team at edata@bidmc.harvard.edu. Please include the pid of your project (the four digit number in red at the top of the project).
  2. The REDCap Team will enable CDP and give permission for CDP Setup/Mapping and Adjudicate Data to the Admin group.
  3. Once enabled, several new features will be visible in the project.
    • A ‘Clinical Data Interoperability Services’ section has been added to the left navigation bar.
    • A ‘Set up Clinical Data Pull from EPIC’ block has been added to the Project Setup page (below ‘Enable optional modules and customizations’).
    • An ‘EHR Access Information’ section has been added to the Project Home tab.

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See also: CDIS/Epic Connectivity