Figure 1.

Data Network Diagram. RPC - remote procedure call. CPRS - Computerized Patient Record System. RDW- regional data warehouse. CDW-corporate data warehouse. PCS – VA Patient Care Services. NLP- natural language processing. Laboratory data are generated when tests on patient samples are processed in laboratories and entered into VistA. From there, they may be accessed through CPRS and PCS through RPCs. They may also be extracted through other processes (journaling and M). Because PCS microbiology data are free-text, information must be extracted into an analyzable form. Figure courtesy of Kiyoshi Jones.