The ENACT Network

ENACT builds upon the structure of the ACT Network to develop and implement new informatics tools for electronic health record (EHR) research; serve as a platform for tool development by informaticians and statisticians across the Consortium; improve the quality of the existing structured data; incorporate data extracted from clinical text using natural language processing (NLP); and enable both federated and centralized statistical and machine learning-based analyses. ENACT is available to all researchers at participating CTSA institutions. Researchers may also designate members of their research staff to access ENACT on their behalf.

NCATS’ Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) program supports efforts to solve system-wide translational research problems in part by developing and implementing ways to improve the success of U.S. clinical trials. One initiative, CTSA Next-Gen Accrual to Clinical Trials (CTSA ENACT), was launched to do just that by developing a nationwide network of sites that share EHR data. It contains over 150 million patient records, and ~90% of the CTSA consortium. Building on existing platforms and operating models to create a “federated” network with common standards, data terminology, and shared resources, CTSA ENACT investigators are focused on data harmonization (using the same term for the same type of data) across EHR platforms; technical needs assessment and implementation; regulatory approaches to ensure compliance with protocols for data access and participant contact; and governance development to establish proper agreements among institutions. ENACT helps clinical investigators conduct cohort discovery before a trial starts, to establish feasibility of a clinical protocol for grant applications, IRB submission, etc. ENACT also helps investigators identify additional sites for a clinical trial. By allowing investigators to thoroughly explore patient cohorts and potential sites before finalizing their clinical protocols, ENACT increases the odds of successfully completing clinical trial recruitment. ENACT provides infrastructure for streamlined informatics solutions across the CTSA Consortium.

For more information on ENACT, please visit the ENACT Network website.

Last updated
November 14, 2023