The CDS Connect Project is a freely available web-based platform that enables the CDS community to identify evidence-based care, translate and codify information into an interoperable health information technology (IT) standard, and leverage tooling to promote a collaborative model of CDS development.

The CDS Connect Repository supports the mission of the Agency for Healthcare, Research, and Quality (AHRQ) to disseminate and implement patient-centered outcomes research findings into clinical practice through CDS. Entries in this repository include publicly available CDS “artifacts”—actionable medical knowledge (e.g., clinical practice guidelines, peer-reviewed articles, local best practices, and clinical quality measures) translated into computable and interoperable decision support.

The Repository hosts numerous artifacts in varying forms and maturity across a variety of clinical topics, from “analytic, diagnostic and therapeutic techniques and equipment” to “psychiatry and psychology.” A variety of organizations, including other federal agencies, contribute artifacts to the Repository.

We anticipate that the CDS community will continue to contribute artifacts to the CDS Connect Repository as the community becomes more familiar with the platform. This graphic depicts how the CDS Repository will be used in the long term.

The Repository search system is built on the commonly used Drupal open source platform. It provides an easy-to-use interface that enables the CDS community to search for, find, and display artifact content.

AHRQ and The MITRE Corporation, a not-for-profit organization working in the public interest, currently govern the Repository. AHRQ and MITRE staff serve as the super administrator, content administrators, governors, and publishers. The long-term vision is for the CDS community, as it becomes more comfortable with using the Repository, to assume these roles and responsibilities of maintaining the platform. See the Governance page for more information on these roles and responsibilities.