Place up to three profiles side by side. Compare their architectural role, lifecycle reach, and first limitation to test. No single standard covers every layer.
Working set
Choose profiles
1 of 3 selected
01
PCORnet CDMData model / schema
Decision lens
Compare roles before choosing an implementation.
The useful question is not “Which standard wins?” It is “Which job must this part of the architecture perform, and what remains uncovered?”
01
Start with the job
Decide whether you need guidance, a domain payload, exchange, semantics, governance, or a reusable release.
02
Map lifecycle reach
Use the matrix to see where each profile has a direct role. A filled cell is coverage, not a quality score.
03
Test the boundary
Read what each option leaves unresolved before judging maturity or implementation fit.
Assessment
Review lifecycle coverage and practical fit.
Read left to right. Lifecycle reach comes first; a maturity label never overrides a scope mismatch.
01 · Lifecycle reach
Where each profile contributes directly
Coverage shows a recorded role at that readiness stage. It does not imply end-to-end implementation.
Readiness-stage coverage for PCORnet Common Data Model
No direct role is recorded for Plan, Acquire, Exchange.
Known limitation
The CDM deliberately preserves source values and does not itself impose all plausibility or consistency edits; ETL fidelity and study-specific fitness remain separate gates.
03 · Detailed assessment
Check the fit and source behind the map
Use the official source, version, and limitation together. A higher maturity label does not erase a scope mismatch.
A relational representation of EHR, claims, prescribing, laboratory, patient-reported, and related data for distributed patient-centered research.
Best fitAnalyses that must run consistently across PCORnet partners while each institution retains operational control of local data.
Readiness stages
HarmonizeLearn + reuse
AI-ready contribution
A common multi-site feature surface helps reproducibility, but site heterogeneity, missingness, refresh timing, label construction, and distributed-learning governance remain material.
First limitation to test
The CDM deliberately preserves source values and does not itself impose all plausibility or consistency edits; ETL fidelity and study-specific fitness remain separate gates.
Maturity
Established
Operational distributed-research model with separately versioned checks and value sets