Using your medical records to improve safety during hospital stays for older adults
Demonstrating the potential for electronic health record interoperability to improve patient safety research of older adults over the acute episode of care.
This project helps older adults share their electronic health records so researchers can better spot and reduce safety problems during hospital stays.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Brigham and Women's Hospital NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boston, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11099735 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You would use a secure web app to locate and retrieve your medical records from different providers and share them with the research team. The team will enhance open-source tools and a cloud backend (building on Sync-for-Science technology) to collect and organize those records securely. This work is done alongside two ongoing studies that enroll older adults during acute care episodes so your shared records can help identify harmful events. You must give consent and the staff will assist with connecting your provider portals or health apps to the system.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Adults with multiple chronic conditions who are hospitalized or likely to be hospitalized and who can use a web-based tool to share their health records are ideal candidates.
Not a fit: People whose providers do not support the required electronic record-sharing standards, who cannot access the internet, or who are not experiencing acute care episodes are unlikely to see direct benefit.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could give researchers a fuller medical picture to help spot and prevent harmful events during hospital stays for older adults.
How similar studies have performed: Patient-mediated record sharing has been used in programs like All of Us and Sync-for-Science, so the technical approach has precedent though applying it specifically to prevent acute-care adverse events in older adults is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
Boston, United States
- Brigham and Women's Hospital — Boston, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Dalal, Anuj K — Brigham and Women's Hospital
- Study coordinator: Dalal, Anuj K
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.