A system in which a number of hospitals submit coded, computer-ready summaries (discharge abstracts) of clinical records to a central shared computer service. The summaries may be submitted on paper or via computer media. In return, the hospitals receive reports and analyses of their own data, which they need for their internal operations. In addition, by using standardized information, hospitals may obtain inter-hospital comparisons, and may establish a database which may be used, under the confidentiality rules of the system, for research. The prototype of such systems is the Professional Activity Study (PAS) of the Commission on Professional and Hospital Activities (CPHA).