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Inclusion Criteria

Inclusion criteria define the conditions that patients must meet to be included in your cohort. These criteria are displayed in a section with a green border in the Cohort Builder interface, indicating their positive nature. You can add multiple criteria and group them together using logical operators (AND/OR) to create complex patient selection rules.

Inclusion criteria interface

Understanding Inclusion Criteria

Inclusion criteria specify the characteristics, conditions, or events that patients must have to be part of your cohort. Only patients who meet ALL the inclusion criteria (or the specified combination when using groups) will be included in the final cohort.

Adding Inclusion Criteria

To add inclusion criteria to your cohort:

  1. Navigate to the Cohort Builder interface
  2. Locate the "Inclusion criteria" section (with green border)
  3. Click the "+ Add criteria" button to add a single criterion
  4. Or click "+ Add group" to create a group of criteria with logical operators
  5. Configure each criterion by selecting the appropriate data type and conditions

Types of Inclusion Criteria

You can use various types of criteria for inclusion:

  • Patient Demographics: Patient, Gender, Age, Death, Race, State, Zip3, Segmentation, Patient History, Import Cohort Block
  • Diagnosis: ICD-CM, ICD-CM Simple, ICD-CM Hierarchy
  • Procedures: ICD-PCS, CPT-4, CPT-4 Simple, HCPCS
  • Drugs/Medications: NDC, ATC Classes
  • Laboratory: Result Name & Unit, LOINC
  • Clinical Notes: Notes, Notes Cohort

Patient Demographics

Patient Demographics criteria allow you to include patients based on personal and geographic characteristics. These criteria are essential for creating targeted cohorts that match specific patient populations.

Patient gender criteria configuration interface showing gender selection dropdown
  • Patient: General patient information and identifiers
  • Gender: Include patients by gender (Male, Female, Other, Unknown)
  • Age: Include patients by age ranges or specific age values
  • Death: Include or exclude deceased patients
  • Race: Include patients by race/ethnicity
  • State: Include patients by U.S. state location
  • Zip3: Include patients by first 3 digits of ZIP code (geographic region)
  • Segmentation: Include patients by segmentation categories
  • Patient History: Include patients based on historical patient data and events
  • Import Cohort Block: Import inclusion criteria from existing cohorts

Diagnosis

Diagnosis criteria allow you to include patients based on ICD-10-CM diagnosis codes. You can use different views and selection methods depending on your needs.

ICD-CM diagnosis criteria configuration interface
  • ICD-CM: ICD-10-CM diagnosis codes with full functionality and advanced search capabilities
  • ICD-CM Simple: Simplified ICD-10-CM code selection interface for quick code entry
  • ICD-CM Hierarchy: ICD-10-CM codes organized in hierarchical structure, allowing you to select codes by category and subcategory

Procedures

Procedure criteria allow you to include patients based on procedure codes. You can use different coding systems depending on your needs.

CPT-4 procedure criteria configuration interface
  • ICD-PCS: ICD-10-PCS procedure codes for inpatient procedures
  • CPT-4: Current Procedural Terminology (CPT-4) codes with full functionality and advanced search capabilities
  • CPT-4 Simple: Simplified CPT-4 code selection interface for quick code entry
  • HCPCS: Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System codes for medical services, supplies, and equipment

Drugs/Medications

Drug and medication criteria allow you to include patients based on medication codes and classifications. You can filter by specific drug codes or broader therapeutic classes.

NDC drug criteria configuration interface
  • NDC: National Drug Code for specific medications, allowing precise identification of individual drugs
  • ATC Classes: Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical classification system for grouping medications by therapeutic and chemical properties

Laboratory

Laboratory criteria allow you to include patients based on laboratory test results. You can filter by test names and units or use standardized LOINC codes.

Laboratory criteria configuration interface
Laboratory criteria configuration interface
Laboratory criteria configuration interface
Laboratory criteria configuration interface
  • Result Name & Unit: Laboratory test results filtered by test name and unit of measurement, allowing you to specify exact test parameters
  • LOINC: Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes for standardized identification of laboratory tests and clinical observations

Clinical Notes

Clinical Notes criteria allow you to include patients based on Electronic Medical Record (EMR) notes and clinical documentation. You can search for specific text patterns or use cohort-based note filtering.

EMR Notes criteria configuration interface
  • Notes: Electronic Medical Record notes and clinical documentation, allowing you to search for specific keywords, phrases, or patterns within patient notes
  • Notes Cohort: Cohort-based notes configuration and filtering, enabling you to apply note criteria within the context of a specific cohort

Grouping Criteria

You can create groups of criteria to build complex logic:

  • AND Groups: All criteria in the group must be met
  • OR Groups: At least one criterion in the group must be met
  • Nested Groups: Combine multiple groups for advanced logic

Best Practices

  • Start with broad criteria and refine as needed
  • Use specific codes and values for more accurate results
  • Test your criteria with small date ranges first
  • Review the patient count after adding criteria to ensure expected results
  • Document your criteria logic for reproducibility