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PCORnet (the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network) is a national research network that lets investigators ask the same question of electronic health record (EHR) data held by many health systems at once. Rather than pooling records into one warehouse, the data stay with each network partner behind its firewall, and the partners’ data are organized under a shared specification, the PCORnet Common Data Model (CDM). Researchers use PCORnet to support real-world evidence studies, comparative clinical effectiveness research, pragmatic trials, population health research, and health systems research.
What is PCORnet?
PCORnet describes itself as a “network of networks.” According to the PCORnet website (checked 2026-11-07), it offers access to data from everyday healthcare encounters with more than 50 million people across the United States, through a distributed research network of eight PCORnet Clinical Research Networks (CRNs), facilitated by the Coordinating Center for PCORnet. Data draw on millions of EHRs, with growing links to patient-reported and payor data.
In this design, researchers’ queries are sent to the data, and answers, not data, are sent back. PCORnet states that its approach shares only the minimum necessary information needed to answer a question, with governance, role-based access controls, and auditing.
What is the PCORnet Common Data Model?
Every PCORnet Network Partner operates under the PCORnet Common Data Model, so a user can ask the same question across many differently configured systems and receive an answer in one standardized format. PCORnet explains the problem it solves with an example: one clinic may code birthdate as “Date_of_Birth,” a health system as “Birth_DT,” and a registry as “DOB.” The CDM, developed by the PCORnet Network Partners, standardizes data points from clinical information systems into a common format.
PCORnet publishes CDM v7.0 (specification dated 1 May 2025) together with a parseable spreadsheet version, a value set reference file, and a set of data checks. For the table-level definitions, use the specification itself rather than a summary: PCORnet Common Data Model downloads.
How is PCORnet data quality checked?
PCORnet states that accessible data are screened in two stages. The first examines conformance to the standard organization and representation of data, completeness (including that diagnosis codes are aligned), plausibility, and persistence, meaning records do not disappear between refreshes. The second stage establishes the level of data quality for a specific study purpose, with the Coordinating Center examining patterns for key variables within a given study or population.
Who runs PCORnet?
The Coordinating Center for PCORnet is described as the organizational and communication hub of the network. Its services include stewarding governance policies for the privacy and security of patient data, monitoring data quality and updating the Common Data Model, promoting patient engagement in research, connecting experts across the CRNs, and publicly reporting on PCORnet studies and capacity. Its principal investigators are listed as Adrian Hernandez and Keith Marsolo of Duke University’s Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI), and Lindsay Mayberry of Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
PCORnet also states that patients and caregivers serve on the PCORnet Steering Committee. Studies conducted through the network still follow ordinary research requirements such as Good Clinical Practice and institutional agreements.
How do I request PCORnet data or collaboration?
The PCORnet Front Door is the access point for investigators, patient groups, health systems, clinicians, government, industry scientists, sponsors, and other stakeholders. The Front Door page lists these kinds of requests:
- Study Feasibility Review: help understanding what data are available, whether PCORnet data can be linked to other sources, how to develop a budget, which earlier PCORnet studies to learn from, and how to describe PCORnet in a research proposal.
- Network Collaborator Request: the Front Door team shares a study with each Clinical Research Network so they can assess interest and fit, and helps facilitate communication with potential sites. The requestor generally executes any study-specific agreements with participating sites.
- Data Network Request: generally provides preliminary data to help design proposals or assess feasibility. The team schedules a consultation, may help develop a query for the Common Data Model, and securely distributes it to Network Partners, who choose whether to run it and send back results. The team then reviews the data report with the requestor.
- PCORnet Studies: a designation for generally funded projects that include two or more networks, engage participants and patients throughout, commit to broad dissemination of findings, share progress with the network, and use the Common Data Model.
PCORnet states that queries can take from weeks to months depending on complexity, and that simple Data Network Requests are generally completed without charge, while more complex queries are supported by research funds. Investigators planning a full study should also review clinical trial protocol design.
Strengths and limits
Strengths
- Scale: data from more than 50 million people nationwide, reached through eight Clinical Research Networks.
- Data stay local: data remain with each partner behind its firewall under HIPAA and are not amassed in a single data pool.
- Standardized format: one question yields answers in a single, standardized format across partners.
- Transparency about quality: strengths and weaknesses of the data for a specific use are meant to be communicated at the outset of each research effort.
Limits
- Partners decide: Network Partners choose whether or not to run a given query.
- Timelines vary: queries can take weeks to months, depending on complexity and queue.
- Query-based access: a distributed network returns answers rather than raw patient-level records, which suits some study designs better than others.
- Funding: complex queries and research projects are supported by research funds rather than free services.
Related standards
PCORnet’s Common Data Model is specific to this network. For teams standardizing clinical trial data for regulatory submissions, see our reference on CDISC clinical data standards.
FAQ
Does PCORnet store patient data in a centralized warehouse?
No. PCORnet states that data stay with each network partner behind its firewall, protected under HIPAA, and are not amassed into a single data pool or warehouse. Queries and responses move through a secure Distributed Research Network Query Portal.
Can any investigator request PCORnet resources?
The Front Door page describes PCORnet as a national resource available to everyone, and lists investigators, patient groups, healthcare organizations, clinicians, government, industry scientists, and sponsors as potential requestors. Simple data network requests are generally without charge; complex queries are supported by research funds.
What version of the PCORnet Common Data Model is current?
As of 2026-11-07, PCORnet publishes Common Data Model v7.0 (1 May 2025) and PCORnet Data Checks v20, effective July 2026.
How many people does PCORnet reach?
PCORnet reports data from more than 50 million people nationwide through eight Clinical Research Networks.
Sources
All sources checked 2026-11-07.
- PCORnet, “About PCORnet”: https://pcornet.org/about/
- PCORnet, “PCORnet Data: Scale, Quality, and Security”: https://pcornet.org/data/
- PCORnet, “PCORnet Common Data Model”: https://pcornet.org/data/common-data-model/
- PCORnet, “PCORnet Front Door”: https://pcornet.org/front-door/
- PCORnet, “The Coordinating Center for PCORnet”: https://pcornet.org/coordinating-center/
