BILH i2b2 Introduction

Overview: BILH i2b2 is a website that enables investigators to search the clinical data at BILH for research purposes, such as obtaining preliminary patient counts for a study, hypothesis testing, or analyzing patient-level datasets. (This tool was previously known as Clinical Query 2, or CQ2, at BIDMC.)
Data: BILH i2b2 contains clinical data on more than 6 million patients across all BILH hospitals, including diagnoses, procedures, medications, laboratory test results, and more, for a total of over 1 billion data points. BILH i2b2 seamlessly integrates data from Epic with historical BIDMC data (data never loaded into Epic) going back to 1997.
Access: BILH i2b2 is available to all BILH investigators and is complementary to research tools in Epic. It has a simple user interface designed to enable investigators to get started with little or no training. Please email Griffin Weber at gweber@bidmc.harvard.edu if you have difficulty accessing or using BILH i2b2.

BILH i2b2 Tools

BILH i2b2 contains two tools.

Aggregate Query Tool: After entering inclusion and exclusion criteria, the Aggregate Count Query tool will tell you the number of matching patients. You do not need an IRB protocol to run these aggregate count queries. For additional patient privacy, a small random number is added to the actual number of matching patients and small counts are masked. Attempts to circumvent this might result in your BILH i2b2 account being deactivated.
Data Download Tool: With IRB approval from BIDMC, investigators can download patient-level data. This includes deidentified or limited datasets, as well as data containing medical record numbers (but not patient names or contact information). Data downloads with approved protocols from other BILH IRBs is coming soon.

BILH i2b2 Support: For questions, help, or training on using BILH i2b2, please email Griffin Weber at gweber@bidmc.harvard.edu. BILH i2b2 is an evolving product. We continually add new data and features based on feedback from investigators. Please send us your suggestions on how we can make it better. Dr. Weber is Director of the Biomedical Research Informatics Core at BIDMC and an Associate Professor of Medicine and Biomedical Informatics at BIDMC and HMS.
Custom Analyses: The InSIGHT Core is a research core at BIDMC that was created to help investigators extract custom datasets from clinical systems at BIDMC. In particular, the InSIGHT Core can access data that are not in BILH i2b2 or CQ2, and they can format the data in ways that are not possible through these tools. The InSIGHT Core can access investigators' queries in BILH i2b2 or CQ2 and provide additional data for the matching patients. To get started, please contact Karla Pollick from the InSIGHT Core at kpollick@bidmc.harvard.edu.
Epic Report Request: Another way to obtain custom datasets is to submit an Epic Report request to have an application Business Manager review and intake the report request, assign a developer, and work through the report lifecycle.

Overview: CQ2 is the legacy i2b2 system for BIDMC, which will continue to be supported until the transition to BILH i2b2 is complete. Use CQ2 if you need to access queries that were previously ran in CQ2.
Data: CQ2 contains data on 3 million patients from BIDMC from 1997 through May, 2024. No future data updates are planned.
Access: CQ2 is only available to investigators at BIDMC. With IRB approval, investigators can continue to download data through CQ2.
To Login: Login to portal.bidmc.org. Click the Applications tab. Under the Research section click the link to Clinical Query 2.

Overview: The Shared Health Research Information Network (SHRINE) is a real-time federated query tool that connects the i2b2 systems at different hospitals. Use SHRINE to gain access to larger or more diverse patient populations.
Data: The NIH/NCATS funded EnACT network uses SHRINE to connect more than 50 sites across the Unites States, with electronic health record data on more than 100 million individuals.
Access: EnACT/SHRINE is only available to faculty of rank Instructor or above at BIDMC. Please email Griffin Weber at gweber@bidmc.harvard.edu to confirm faculty status and obtain a login link.

Release History: Major updates to this website include:

  •  06/01/2024 - BILH i2b2 expands CQ2 to all BILH as part of the transition to Epic.

  •  04/28/2015 - The Data Download Tool was added to CQ2.

  •  10/01/2012 - The Clinical Query 2 (CQ2) Aggregate Query Tool was launched at BIDMC.
Background on i2b2: i2b2 (Informatics for Integrating Biology and the Bedside) is an open-source software platform developed in 2004 to facilitate the sharing, integration, standardization and analysis of heterogenous data from healthcare and research. Today it is used at more than 300 hospitals worldwide. i2b2 and similar tools were inspired by the original ClinQuery system, which was invented at Beth Israel Hospital in 1989.