DARTNet is a federated network of community and academic primary care practices formed under an Agency for Healthcare Research Quality (AHRQ) grant for the purpose of utilizing electronic health record data for comparative effectiveness research and quality improvement. DARTNet, a public-private partnership, is designed as a practice based research network with the member practices not only participating in comparative effectiveness research studies, but also functioning as a learning community.

CINA, as one of the founding organizations of DARTNet, provides the technology infrastructure for DARTNet. Currently, all member practices of DARTNet are also CINA clients, with the CINA tools used not only for data standardization and extraction but the CINA Protocol Engine serves as a core technology for capturing additional clinical data at the point of care. The ability to access clinical data from the ambulatory practice setting and represent samples of the “whole” has positioned DARTNet as a leader in comparative effectiveness research.