The patient data repositories 96 store patient medical patient data for the patients 54 of the medical institution 50 in one or more storage memories 98 of the patient data repositories 96. Such patient data may include EMRs, medical history data, lab reports, physiological data, and other relevant patient data. The patient data repository 96 may also store in the storage memories 98 other medical data that may be useful for the clinical decision support algorithms of CDS engines, such as the CDS engine 94. Such other medical data may include medical knowledge, demographic and/or geographic medical data, and so on.

Each of the patient data repositories 96 includes a communication unit 100 and a controller 102. The communication unit 100 allows the controller 102 to communicate with the backhaul communication network 88, and the controller 102 makes the data in the storage memories 98 available to external devices and/or systems over the backhaul communication network 88.