Keynote papers Collecting research data from clinical practice: How can informatics help?

While conducting research studies in dental offices is not novel, it definitely has not been common to date. The establishment of the PBRNs therefore presents not only significant opportunities, but also sizable challenges. Dental offices in the United States typically deliver care through a highly efficient and systematic process. While conducting research in private practices is an important goal, the question must be raised how research can be most efficiently and effectively be integrated into the practice workflow. Specifically, this paper focuses on what role information and information technology can play in meeting this challenge. We briefly review the functioning and operations of dental PBRNs before we turn to the specific informatics issues they face.