Clinical research studies do not do a good job of recruiting appropriate subjects. A better system is needed. EHRs and registries contain much of the information that is needed to identify appropriate subjects. An automated method allowing research sponsors to search EHRs will lead to better results and be more efficient and cost effective. An automated method allowing providers or patients to identify studies of interest to them would have similar benefits. Finally, if a research system is enabled to push a research protocol to an EHR, the result is an EHR-enabled approach to research matching.
Government, advocacy groups, health care providers and the pharmaceutical industry all agree that the current clinical research recruitment system needs improvement and that more minorities need to be recruited into studies. Individuals and groups from all these constituencies have been in discussions about development of a National Clinical Trial Network (NCTN) linking, among others, physicians, provider networks, academic research centers, hospitals and the pharmaceutical industry; most of them will be available to provide support,  financial or otherwise, to implement the profile. The tools developed as a result of this profile will be key components of the NCTN. 
This profile combines workflow and content.
