CHORDS

The Colorado Health Observation Regional Data Service (CHORDS) is a unique regional network of health care, public health, and behavioral health partners that used electronic health record data to identify health trends and support public health evaluation and monitoring efforts.

November 2, 2016

June 30, 2023

About CHORDS

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 aggregated medical and behavioral health data from 14 contributing providers. Members of the CHORDS network are participating in the Clinical Community Data Initiative (CODI@CHORDS). This project integrates multi-sector data from pediatric care and weight management programs based in clinical and community settings to understand the impact of strategies to prevent and treat childhood obesity. The following publications provide more information about CODI@CHORDS:

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.
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

Links to CHORDS resources including governance documents, publications, and presentations featuring CHORDS data are posted below.

CHORDS is no longer providing updated data. Please contact Nina Bastian at bastiann@coloradohealthinstitute.org with questions.

CHORDS Partners

Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes, Children’s Hospital Colorado, Clinica Family Health, Clinica Tepeyac, Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, Colorado Community Managed Care Network (CCMCN), Contexture (formerly CORHIO), Denver Health, Girls on the Run, High Plains Community Health Center, Hunger Free Colorado, Jefferson Center for Mental Health, Kaiser Permanente Colorado, Mental Health Partners, Metro Denver Partnership for Health, North Colorado Health Alliance, STRIDE Community Health Center, Salud Family Health Centers, University of Colorado Denver Adult and Child Consortium for Outcomes Research and Delivery Science (ACCORDS), WellPower (formerly Mental Health Center of Denver)

CHORDS Governance Documents

Governance Plan 3.0

Publications and Presentations

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.
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.
Use and Visualization of Electronic Health Record Data to Advance Public Health, citation of CHORDS by the American Journal of Public Health
Fear and Missing Out: Postponed Care During COVID-19, report published by CHI
COVID-19 Diagnoses by Census Tract, interactive maps published by CHI (en Español)
Value and Impact of Telemedicine During the COVID-19 Response, reports published by CHI
CHORDS Data Provide Unique Lens to Assess Depression in Denver, blog published on the CHI website
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
Seth Foldy, MD MPH Denver Public Health gave a Grand Rounds lecture at the Colorado School of Public Health/CU Anschutz Epidemiology.
Kate Horle of COHRIO and Sara Schmitt of CHI presented to the Denver Health IT Summit in July 2018.
Ken Scott of Denver Public Health assessed the county-level representativeness of CHORDS data.
Jessica Bondy discussed PopMedNet.
Alyson Shupe, Tri-County Health Department, presented to the National Association of City and County Health Officials in July 2018.
Rachel Zucker, Adult and Child Consortium for Health Outcomes Research and Delivery Science, presented to the Public Health Informatics Conference in August 2018.