Comprehensive electronic patient records have been established in major hospitals where data analyses in clinical databases are of interest for retrospective studies. In addition, there are a variety of other features which may support research and teaching, as is illustrated by some of the functions implemented within the Kisim system at Zurich University Hospital. Search tools for diagnosis, procedures or DRGs are useful in identifying and recruiting patients for student courses and clinical case presentations. Electronic boards improve the organisation and individual preparation of meetings and provide long-term documentation. Flagging the records of patients participating in prospective clinical trials furnishes linked information for the team treating these patients. Clinical data warehouses allow selection, analysis, presentation and export of data, and also data mining to extract previously unknown, potentially valuable information. Computer-assisted structured acquisition of data and scores enhances quantitative documentation over time. Decision support and alerting become increasingly important and need to be considered in clinical studies; we are evaluating an algorithm for automatic alerts to prevent venous thromboembolism in hospitalised patients. In conclusion, implementation of various functions in clinical information systems may provide significant support for both teaching and research.