A document-based storage and knowledge production solution designed for use as a primary information system is disclosed. It uses Authentication, Privacy and Security Standards to ensure the source and reliability of the information in the stored documents. It uses Information and Document Standards to explicitly define the information content held in each document. Electronic documents from separate authors, from the same or separate legal entities, are stored together in the same system and can be used in aggregate for the generation of new knowledge. Variations are used to accelerate response times. Other variations describe the method's use as a Variable Electronic Health Record System in which different parts of the system can be produced by separate manufacturers. This is possible because the underlying document-based knowledge system stores the separate documents from each manufacturer's system in such a manner that they can be understood by systems from other manufacturers.