Our mission: "Advancing the effective and appropriate practice of endoscopy to enhance the quality of patient care."

The Clinical Outcomes Research Initiative ( CORI ) was developed to study outcomes of endoscopic procedures in "real life" settings. Physicians participating in the CORI consortium produce endoscopy reports using a computerized report generator. Data from the report are sent electronically to a central data repository where they are pooled with data from other consortium participants. All patient and physician identifiers are removed from the data before it is sent to the repository to protect both patient and physician privacy.

The CORI project began in 1995 under the auspices of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE). By 2004, the repository was receiving 120,000 reports annually from 75 practice sites and approximately 400 physicians in the United States. Close to one million reports exist in the National Endoscopic Database.

The data have been analyzed to examine endoscopic practice patterns, and to develop research hypotheses resulting in the publication of seven research articles and numerous abstracts covering a wide range of endoscopic topics. The central repository also plays a major role in supplying data for current research efforts related to topics such as colon polyps surveillance, management of bleeding ulcers, and outcomes related to liver biopsies.

CORI welcomes the opportunity to support endoscopic research emanating from a variety of settings including community practices, academic institutions, and research foundations and associations. Find out more information about participating in the CORI project.

CORI has established a longstanding, collaborative relationship with Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), AstraZeneca, and Novartis. OHSU has been the home of CORI since its inception and continues to offer ongoing support through its awarded grants from NIH. Additionally, AstraZeneca and Novartis have provided significant research sponsorship through grant funding.