Research Reproducibility in Longitudinal Multi-Center Studies Using Data from Electronic Health Records

A fundamental premise of scientific research is that it should be reproducible. However, the specific requirements for reproducibility of research using electronic health record (EHR) data have not been sufficiently articulated. There is no guidance for researchers about how to assess a given project and identify provisions for reproducibility. We analyze three different clinical research initiatives that use EHR data in order to define a set of requirements to reproduce the research using the original or other datasets. We identify specific project features that drive these requirements. The resulting framework will support the much-needed discussion of strategies to ensure the reproducibility of research that uses data from EHRs.