The numbers are just one click away, whether you are comparing the number of adolescents diagnosed with depression in Frederick or tracking tobacco use in Denver’s Capitol Hill neighborhood.
The Colorado Health Observation Regional Data Service (CHORDS) is a unique regional network of health care, public health, and behavioral health partners that uses electronic health record data to identify health trends and support public health evaluation and monitoring efforts.
Click for Downloadable PDF Maps of Each Health Topic:
About CHORDS
Metro area public health and health care experts conceived and created this groundbreaking tool in 2011 to provide location-based information on population health measures in the metro Denver area. CHORDS expanded to Larimer and Weld counties in 2018.
CHORDS aggregates medical and behavioral health data from 14 contributing providers. The information does not identify patients and does not include protected health records. It is meant to pinpoint pressing health needs in a community and suggest potential responses.
CHORDS partners providing technical support include University of Colorado Denver Adult and Child Consortium for Outcomes Research and Delivery Science (ACCORDS), Colorado Community Managed Care Network (CCMCN), and CORHIO.
The CHORDS network is also a participant in the Childhood Obesity Data Initiative (CODI@CHORDS). This project, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, facilitates access to integrated multi-sector data from pediatric care and weight management programs based in clinical or community settings. The project seeks to build data capacity for research that assesses strategies to prevent and treat childhood obesity. Community data partners participating in CODI@CHORDS include Girls on the Run and Hunger Free Colorado.
CHORDS health data partners:
Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes, Children’s Hospital Colorado, Clinica Family Health, Clinica Tepeyac, Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, Denver Health, High Plains Community Health Center, Jefferson Center for Mental Health, Kaiser Permanente Colorado, Mental Health Partners, North Colorado Health Alliance, STRIDE Community Health Center, Salud Family Health Centers, and WellPower (formerly Mental Health Center of Denver)
How Can I Access Data through CHORDS?
In addition to the public data available through interactive and PDF maps, local public health department representatives in the Denver metropolitan area have access to data through CHORDS. Don't see what you're looking for? Please contact Sara Schmitt (schmitts@coloradohealthinstitute.org) to learn how data available through CHORDS can support community activities and specific research questions.
CHORDS Data Available by Request
Click here to learn how new CHORDS data requests are developed.
CHORDS Governance Documents
Publications and Presentations
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Initial Quality Assessment of the Privacy-Preserving Record Linkage Process in a Distributed Data Network of Health Care and Community Partners, data brief created by the CHORDS Clinical and Community Data Initiative (CODI) project team and funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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New Directions in Public Health Surveillance: Using Electronic Health Records to Monitor Chronic Disease, published by Kraus, Brand, et al. in the Journal of Public Health Management & Practice, highlights CHORDS as a recent effort to extract electronic health record data and transform it for public health surveillance with potential for widespread use.
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Trends in Outpatient Medical-Care Seeking for Acute Gastroenteritis During the COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020, published by Armistead, Tran, and White, et al., in the Foodborne Pathogens and Disease Journal in Jan 2022, using data from CHORDS to examine trends in care seeking behavior for acute gastroenteritis during COVID-19.
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Incorporating Social Determinants of Health Data from Health Care Partners and Community-Based Organizations into a Common Data Architecture, data brief created by the CHORDS Clinical and Community Data Initiative (CODI) project team and funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Use and Visualization of Electronic Health Record Data to Advance Public Health, citation of CHORDS by the American Journal of Public Health
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Fear and Missing Out: Postponed Care During COVID-19, report published by CHI
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COVID-19 Diagnoses by Census Tract, interactive maps published by CHI (en Español)
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Value and Impact of Telemedicine During the COVID-19 Response, reports published by CHI
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CHORDS Data Provide Unique Lens to Assess Depression in Denver, blog published on the CHI website
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Developing a Regional Distributed Data Network for Surveillance of Chronic Health Conditions: The Colorado Health Observation Regional Data Service, published in the Sept/Oct 2019 issue of the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice
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Seth Foldy, MD MPH Denver Public Health gave a Grand Rounds lecture at the Colorado School of Public Health/CU Anschutz Epidemiology.
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Kate Horle of COHRIO and Sara Schmitt of CHI presented to the Denver Health IT Summit in July 2018.
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Ken Scott of Denver Public Health assessed the county-level representativeness of CHORDS data.
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Jessica Bondy discussed PopMedNet.
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Alyson Shupe, Tri-County Health Department, presented to the National Association of City and County Health Officials in July 2018.
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Rachel Zucker, Adult and Child Consortium for Health Outcomes Research and Delivery Science, presented to the Public Health Informatics Conference in August 2018.