SUMMARY Information systems assist in documentation and clinical decision support in settings ranging from an outpatient clinical encounter to the monitoring in an operating room. Such information, if stored and categorized well in a centralized database, offers a treasure trove of information for translational researchers. At Vanderbilt University Medical Center (TN, USA), there is an ongoing effort to advance information systems in all areas and couple this data with a robust genetic repository. It is hoped that such an effort will achieve improvements in quality of care and decreases in costs, while simultaneously providing a fertile ground for translational research.