Beyond the EHR: Clinical Trials in the Age of Abundant Data

There has never been as much electronic health record (EHR) data as there are now. Similarly, clinical research has never needed access to such specific or large patient populations as it does today. How can we use EHR data in clinical trials to bring more patients into research and improve research processes?

“Beyond the EHR: Clinical Trials in the Age of Abundant Data,” the second roundtable in the Elligo Elite Learning Series, explores the answer to this essential question and dives deeper into using data partnerships to overcome the barriers that stand between trials and the efficiency EHR data promise. Featuring industry experts offering their unique experiences and perspectives, the discussion unfolds in four parts: the process of using EHR data in clinical trials, making data usable for research, a real-world example of EHR data enhancing research, and the future of EHR data and clinical trials.

The Process of Using EHR Data in Clinical Trials

We are not lacking data — we just need to find better ways to access it, analyze it, and apply it to clinical research. Where do we start if we want data that’s harmonized, curated, and fit for research?

Michael R. Fronstin, Global Head of Clinical Research and Consulting, Cerner Enviza, offers insights into the process of gathering, cleaning, and ultimately using EHR data to streamline clinical trials. He explores the concept of creating a data-sharing network of healthcare systems and the various benefits healthcare systems get in return for sharing their data. He also explains how EHR data gathered from such a network can inform patient-centric trial designs, lead sponsors directly to the patients they need, increase diversity in any given trial, and more.

Making Data Usable for Research

Douglas Lee, Vice President, Operations and Chief Data Officer, Harris Computer, is leading the charge when it comes to making EHR data usable in clinical research. His work focuses on standardizing, normalizing, and transforming EHR data so it can be analyzed for research-accelerating patient insights.

In this section of the webinar, Doug describes his company’s journey solving data sharing problems, including how they navigated EHR data rights, translated disparate EHR formats, and set up direct data shares with other businesses to ultimately provide a complete longitudinal view of a patient’s healthcare journey.

A Real-World Example of EHR Data Enhancing Research

EHR data hold great promise to improve clinical trials, but will it keep that promise? Seth Hopkins, Ph.D., Executive Director Translational Medicine, Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc., walks through a psychiatry trial, its process, and its data to illustrate the way EHR are already enhancing research. He describes how the trial used EHR data to come up with predictive enrichment strategies and better endpoints so they could more reliably measure the effects of new treatments in the patient population as well as improve documentation for inclusion/exclusion criteria, reduce screening time, reduce heterogeneity to improve efficacy signals, and create a more comprehensive eligibility approach.

The Future of EHR Data and Clinical Trials

Elligo Health Research® is proud to be at the forefront of EHR data and clinical research innovations. In the final webinar segment, Michael Ibara, Pharm.D., Chief Data Officer, Elligo Health Research, details Elligo’s work in this sector and explains two main lessons he’s learned through that work.

He also leads a discussion on the challenges the presenters have run into implementing EHR data in clinical trials and how they’re overcoming the challenges, as well as why and how data literacy is becoming an essential part of bringing efficiency to research.

Explore the Elligo Elite Learning Series

For further insights into using EHR data and data partnerships to advance clinical research, watch the recording of the second Elligo Elite Learning Series roundtable.

When you need direct access to physicians and their known patients or research practice management solutions to accelerate your clinical trials, there’s Only Elligo.

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