The analysis of big databases from millions of electronic health records could lead to major research and health discoveries in the United Kingdom.
Ten government agencies and charities have come up with just over $30 million (£19 million) for four U.K. e-health research Centers of Excellence. It is being led by the Medical Research Council (MRC). E-health research centers in London, Manchester, Dundee and Swansea are expected to open in late 2012, as well.
The centers will use National Health Service (NHS) e-health records and other health data.
Among the topics to be investigated are: diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, cancer and child and maternal health.
The centers will also use datasets available via the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD). The CPRD uses the General Practice Research Database, which has been collecting longitudinal medical records from primary care sources since 1987.
By sorting through the data, researchers should be able to find more treatments, improve the safety of drugs, evaluate risks to public health and investigate causes of diseases and disability.
John Savill, chief executive of the MRC, said in a council statement that the initiative is “a watershed moment for data research and for the Medical Research Council … [and] will deliver the benefits of e-health research, improving patient care over the coming years.”
“Many CPRD services are unique as they offer researchers capabilities which are impossible or hard to gain elsewhere and are provided in a way that gives added value to the research experience,” according to a statement from the CPRD.
It will also give academic researchers and the life sciences industry access to health records of about 52 million British residents, according to The Guardian (U.K.) newspaper.
In addition, Janet Valentine, who heads up public health and aging at the MRC, said health data found in the United Kingdom is particularly unique.
"While research using patient data has been carried out for some time, the advent of electronic health records is enabling a step change in the type and sheer scale of research possible, especially when different large health data sets are linked together," she added. "It's like the choice of taking a Kindle on holiday or a couple of books. We are already beginning to identify more effective treatments through the stratification of patients into those who will respond to treatments."
NHS records already have been used in key research findings such as: effects of thalidomide; the relationship between utility lines and childhood leukemia; and U.K. cancer survival rates, The Guardian said.
Histories of all NHS patients have been kept for some 40 years. Anyone who uses the NHS will be automatically a research subject. The data is anonymous and encrypted, and an opt-out provision is possible.
"The CPRD has the potential to revolutionize research, make a real difference for patients, and allow us to become world leaders in the field," Sally Davies, chief medical officer and chief scientist at the Department of Health, told The Guardian.
Also, privacy and security of patient records is a top priority in the use of the database.
In addition, the U.K. government expects to charge for access to NHS data. In fact, in four years the initiative could see a profit, recovering the expenses used to set up the program. Industry will pay twice what academic researchers pay.
The U.K. government also wants to encourage more worldwide pharmacy companies to use Britain for large-scale clinical trials, The Guardian said.
In a related matter, it was recently reported by Research and Markets that the global electronic health record systems market will increase at a compound annual growth rate of 12.6 percent between 2011 and 2015, according to HealthTechZone.
Edited by
Braden Becker
