New Efforts to Integrate Clinical Trials Data into EHRs

The US National Cancer Institute (NCI, Bethesda, MD, USA) is joining forces with Health Level Seven International (HL7, Ann Arbor, MI, USA) to connect trials data with electronic health records (EHRs), the group announced last month.

Talk of standards to make EHR systems interoperable with electronic data capture (EDC)-type data has taken place for several years, with little to show in the way of progress. But HL7 said that it plans to launch a pilot project in late 2012, with the ultimate goal of applying the same standards the group uses for packaging clinical care data to clinical trials data, which could then be used by doctors to assist in and tailor treatments for patients who have been involved in clinical research.

In general, pharmaceutical companies have applauded efforts to open pipelines between clinical trials systems and EHRs, which could provide them with a way to find patients that fit their drug trials electronically. Aiming to stay on the leading edge, Oracle (Redwood Shores, CA, USA) launched a health research platform that offers the ability to analyze clinical trials data alongside EHR data. The company is also providing the same technology for a pilot electronic research network progressing in New York State (USA) as part of the Partnerships to Advance Clinical Electronic Research (PACeR).

PACeR and other efforts have attracted government agencies, hospitals, pharmaceutical corporations, academic groups and tech providers to the table, as these parties all have a stake in speeding up the notoriously slow process of bringing new therapies to market. With patient and clinical trials data in electronic format and interoperable among different systems, the NCI and HL7 believe they can contribute to the goal.

HL7 is a non-profit standards development organization with affiliates established in more than 30 countries dedicated to providing a comprehensive framework and related standards for the exchange, integration, sharing, and retrieval of electronic health information that supports clinical practice and the management, delivery, and evaluation of health services. HL7 has more than 2,300 members, representing approximately 500 corporate members, which include more than 90% of the information systems vendors serving healthcare.

Related Links:
US National Cancer Institute
Health Level Seven International
Oracle