Consortium for Oral Health‐Related Informatics: Improving Dental Research, Education, and Treatment

Abstract

Advances in informatics, particularly the implementation of electronic health records (EHR), in dentistry have facilitated the exchange of information. The majority of dental schools in North America use the same EHR system, providing an unprecedented opportunity to integrate these data into a repository that can be used for oral health education and research. In 2007, fourteen dental schools formed the Consortium for Oral Health-Related Informatics (COHRI). Since its inception, COHRI has established structural and operational processes, governance and bylaws, and a number of work groups organized in two divisions: one focused on research (data standardization, integration, and analysis), and one focused on education (performance evaluations, virtual standardized patients, and objective structured clinical examinations). To date, COHRI (which now includes twenty dental schools) has been successful in developing a data repository, pilot-testing data integration, and sharing EHR enhancements among the group. This consortium has collaborated on standardizing medical and dental histories, developing diagnostic terminology, and promoting the utilization of informatics in dental education. The consortium is in the process of assembling the largest oral health database ever created. This will be an invaluable resource for research and provide a foundation for evidence-based dentistry for years to come.

Standardized dental diagnostic terminology

“…The EZcodes have been integrated into the treatment planning module of the axiUm EHR. Several schools have already implemented the EZcodes terminology, and this terminology is available to be used by all schools who are members of COHRI 11 . However, a rapid terminology development approach was used to create the EZcodes, and therefore may not yet contain all clinical salient particulars.…”

“…In February 2007, fourteen dental schools that use a common EHR system, axiUm (Exan Corporation, Vancouver, Canada), agreed to share oral health data and formed the Consortium for Oral Health‐Related Informatics (COHRI), which now includes more than twenty dental schools. A more detailed discussion of the formation of COHRI, including which schools are in COHRI, can be found elsewhere 11 . COHRI's effort to create an interuniversity oral health research database based upon the common EHR software system was funded by the National Library of Medicine (1G08LM010075‐01).…”

Implementation of data access and use procedures in clinical data warehouses. A systematic review of literature and publicly available policies

“…criteria, as determined by checking the web pages of the 23 CDWs of the publications included in the study. The reference check of all included publications did not yield additional literature or documents (11,14,15,(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45)(46)(47)(48)(49)(50)…”

Cost Comparison of an On‐Premise IT Solution with a Cloud‐Based Solution for Electronic Health Records in a Dental School Clinic

“…Today, the bulk of North American dental schools operate in a fully digital format or are on track to do so within the next few years 5 . In the U.S. alone, most dental schools have at least a traditional on‐premise EHR 5, 6 .…”

“…Today, the bulk of North American dental schools operate in a fully digital format or are on track to do so within the next few years 5 . In the U.S. alone, most dental schools have at least a traditional on‐premise EHR 5, 6 . EHRs are said to be vital for patient safety and the maintenance of standards as they provide information for patient care, ensure fiscal accountability, track quality of patient care, manage clinic operations, and report student work 4 .…”